The history of Middletown, Vermont, in three discourses, delivered before the citizens of that town, February 7 and 21, and March 30, 1867

974.302

M595f

1770101

RIYNC LDS HISTORICAL
GENEALOGY COLLECTION

, 3 1833 01100 2760

THE

HISTORY

OF

IDDLETOWI, VERMOK

IN

THREE DISCOURSES,

DELIVERED BEFORE THE

CITIZENS OF THAT TOWN"

FEBRUARY 7 AXD 21, AND 2IARCH 30, 1367,

Hon; BARNES ' FEISBI

TP

PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE CITIZENS OF MIDDLETOWN.

RUTLAND, YT.
TUTTLE & COMPANY, PRINTERS.
I8G7.

Digitized by

the Internet Archive

in 2015

https://archive.org/details/historyofmiddletOOfris

1T70101

HISTORY OF MIBDLETOWN.

Friends and Fellow Citizens : — You have assembled this
evening to hear from me the history of Middletown. I should
rejoice if I could assure you that I had a full and complete his-
tory ; but I cannot so assure you. 1 have recently written it out,
although I 'nave for t#elve years or more intended to do so, and
in the meantime have been collecting the materials, as I had
opportunity. I now present it to you, not as a full and complete
history, but as the best production I am able to give you.

Much of the early history of the town is in oblivion. Fifty-
years ago, when many of those pioneer fathers and mothers were
living, the most of it might have been gathered up and saved;
but such as I have been able to collect in my time is hereby most
respectfully and affectionately dedicated to and for the use of my
native town.

I wish here to say, that for the literary merits of my produc-
tion 1 claim nothing. My desire, and, I may say, only purposes
have been to collect all the material facts I possibly could which
go to make up your history, and to express them intelligibly and
truthfully, conscious that if those facts can be preserved, they
may be put in better form by some one more capable than myself,
who shall come after me.

In regard to the history of this town, however, I do claim, that
With the labor and attention I have given the matter during the
last twelve years, that I have collected a good deal more of it
than is now in the possession of any other person ; hence the
importance of my writing it. I fear that unless I should write it,

~4 HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWtf.

and leave it where it will be preserved, that a large portion of
what I now have, incomplete and imperfect as it is, would be
beyond the reach of mortals at my decease. With this view I
have written it, and am now happy to meet this full house and
read it.

MlDULKTOWN is situated in the south-western part of Rutland
County, and is "bounded on the north by Poultney and Ira, on the
east by Ira and Tinmouth, on the south by Tinmouth and Wells,
and on the west by Wells and Poultney. As will be seen from
the map, its shape or form is peculiar, which will be hereafter
accounted for. The territory of which it is composed was taken
from the towns of Poultney, Ira, Tinmouth and Wells. Poultney,
Tinmouth and Wells received their charters as early as 1701.
The date of the charter of Ira is believed to have been about the
same time, though I have been unable to obtain the exact date.

About three-fourths of a mile north of the village of Middle-
town, a little east of the present dwelling house of Harvey Lef-
fingwell, and in a pasture belonging to Royal Coleman, hsq., is
the locality where was the north-east comer of Wells, the south-
east corner of Poultney, the south-west corner of Ira, and the
north-west corner of Tinmouth. The line from thence, between
the towns of Wells and Tinmouth, run south, passing in its course
through the eastern part of the village between the school house
and the stream, a little west of the school house ; also, in its
course further south, it makes • the west line of the ''old Zen as
Erisbie farm," so called, the cast lino of the ''Thomas Morgan
farm/* and passes very near the west line of the "Burnam farm,"
now owned by S. W. South worth, and the "Perry farm,*' now
owned by Mr. Atwater. The line from thence (the corners above
named), between the towns of Poultney and Ira, ran directly
north from those comers, and lines running east and west from

v»

thence divided the towns above named.

- The township of Middletown was created by an act of the Leg-
islature of October 28th, 1784. Prior to that time the town, or
the territory of which it is composed, was included in die above
named ioiu* towns, with the lines as above indicated. The settle-
ment of the town, or the territory, was commenced some years

HISTORY OF MtDDLETOWN.

5

before 1784; and in speaking of this settlement, we shall, for
convenience, speak of it as in Middletdwn.

The exact date when the first settlers of the town came here,
perhaps cannot now be given. It was before the revolutionary
war. Mr. Thompson in his history says, that "the settlement was
commenced a short time before the revolutionary war by Thomas
Morgan and others," ' *c and mills were erected." Thomas Mor-.
gan c:\mo here before the war, and so did Richard and Benjamin
Raskins, Phineas Clough and Luther Filmore. Mr. Morgan, who
lived until 1841, said to me before his death, that when he came
here he found his way by marked trees, and that when he arrived
not fi tree had been cut, but throughout the entire town it was one
unbroken forest. He also said to me, that he came about three
years before the war commenced, and that when that commenced
he left. But he probably treated the stirring events of 1777 in
this region, in which we may include the evacuation of Ticonder-
oga, Burg^yne's invasion, and the battle of Bennington, as the
commencement of the war, for he was here until a short time
before the battle of Bennington, which occurred August lGth,
1777, over two years after the war had commenced. £d that the
probability is that the settlement was commenced in 1774.

Mr. Morgan, after he came, like all the early settlers, put up a
log house, and commenced clearing up the forest Mr. Morgan
purchased a hundred acres of land about three-fourths of a mile
south or where the village now is, and put up his log house a few
feet north of where the framed house now stands on the " old
Morgan farm." By the summer of 1777, I should judge, he had
made considerable progress in clearing up his land, as he had that
summer four acres of wheat, some sixty or seventy rods from his
house, opposite of where Truman Kibburn now lives, and on the
east side and adjoining what is now known as the " Coy Hill
road." lie was called away to Bennington, and his wheat was
never harvested. Richard Raskins had commenced a settlement
a little east of the village, near where Lucius Copeland, Esq.,
now lives. He, too, iu the summer of 1777, had two acres of
wheat which he never harvested, but went to Bennington.

Bonj. llaskins had built a log house and commenced a settle*

6

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN,

ment near where Bea. A. Haynes now lives. Luther Filinore
had put up a log house on the south-west corner of what is now
known as " the green," in the village. Where Phineas Clough
first located himself is not now positively known ; but he very
early settled on what has since been known as the " Orcutt farm,"
now occupied by Mr. Lobdill. Those £ve men arc all who are
now known to have been here before the Revolutionary war. They
all left in the summer of 1777, joined the militia at Manchester,
and were all in Bennington battle.

But were " mills erected" before the war? rlhe mills known
as " Miner's mills," in an early clay, were built by Gideon Miner in
178?. They were located about a mile and a half east of where
the village now is. Mr. Morgan then assisted Mr. Miner, as a
workman, in building the mills. Morgan brought the mill irons
from Bennington on a horse. Some of the Miner family have
informed us that there was " some sort of a mill there " when Mr.
Miner came ; but Mr. Morgan's descendants are confident that he
had nothing to do with mills in Middletown until he worked for
Miner in 3 782. So that we cannot reliably state by whom this
some sort of a mill was built. The opinion of the old people
seems to have been that it was the work of Mr. Morgan. It
might have been ; but whosoever it was, the mill never went into
operation, and Mr. Miner had to build anew in 1782.

Mr. Thompson says, that the settlers 4; returned after the war."
It is true there was not much done by way of settlement for some
three or four years subsequent to the summer of 1777, when the
settlers left to meet the invaders at Bennington. But we find
Benj. Haskins and Phineas Clough back here in 1778, and Mor-
gan and Filmore were back soon after ; and a good many others
were here before the close of the war. Azor Perry came as early
as 1778. James and Thomas McClure, it is supposed, came in
1779. William and Jonathan Frisbie came in 1781 : and Gideon
Miner, Nathaniel Wood and his sons, Jacob and Ephraim, Caleb
Smith, Jonathan Brewster, Gamaliel Waldo, Nathan Walton, and
some others were here as early as 1782. And Joseph Spauiding
and some others, it is supposed, came the same year, but we can-
not be positive. We find that a Congregational Church was organ-

1

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 7

ised as early as the spring of 1782, and Mr. Spaulding was made
the clerk of the church.

We shall now omit further mention of the first settlers, and the
incidents, trials and hardships attending the settlement, until after
we give an account of the organization of the town.

It is evident that the settlement was rapid, for in the fall of
1784, the people petitioned the Legislature, then in session at
Rutland, for a new town — and we can now very readily see that
the settlers upon those parts of the then towns of Poultney, Ira,
Tinmouth and Wells, now included in the limits of Middletown,
would naturally become a community by themselves, and unite
their interests and feelings in spite of town lines. They' had
already done so — two churches had been organized — Congrega-
tional and Baptist, and a log meeting house erected near the
south-east corner of the present burial ground, and the members
of the churches were from the four towns, but had a common
center, where it has been since, and now is. If those town lines
had never been changed, there must have been the same churches
here, the same business — the same village. Nature formed the
territory for a town, aud as the settlers increased in numbers, they
became aware of it.

The original petition for a town, I have not been able to find,
but the prayer of the petitioners was granted. On the 28th day
of October, 1784, the Legislature passed an act of which the
following is a copy ;

An Act constituting a new Town by the name of Middletown.

" Whereas, the inhabitants of a part of the towns of Wells,
" Tinmouth, Poultney and Ira, which are included in the bounds
u hereinafter described, have, by their petition represented, that
" thc}T labor under great inconveniences with meeting with their
" several towns for public worship and town business, by reason
4< of being surrounded by high mountains,

" Be it therefore enacted, and it is hereby enacted by the repre-
" sentatlves of the freemen of the State of Vermont in General
" Assejnfclj met, and by the authority of the same, that the tract
<w of land or district hereinafter described, be and is hereby created
44 and incorporated into a township, by the name of Middletown,

I.

■L.

o HISTORY OF 31IDDLET0WN.

44 and the inhabitants thereof and their successors with the like
" privileges and prerogatives, which the other towns in the state
" are invested with, viz :

" Beginning at a beech tree marked, standing west 26 degrees
"south 310 chains from the north-east corner of Wells; thence
" east 40 degrees south 290 chains, to a white ash tree standing
" in Tinmouh west line ; thence east 10 degrees south 45 chains,
" to& a beech marked ; thence north 33 degrees east 264 chains,
" to a beech marked; thence north 10 degrees west 333 chains,
"to stake and stones standing in Poultney east line; thence
<c south 10 degrees west 28 chains, to stake and stones; thence
"west 11 degrees north GO chains, to a small beech marked;
" thence south 45 chains, to a hard beech tree; thence west 40
" degrees south 207 chains 5 links, to a stake and stones standing
" in Wells north line ; thence west — south 4 chains, to a stake ;
" thence south 10 degrees west 185 chains, to the first mentioned
" bounds."

From Thompson's Vermont we find that three thousand five
hundred and ten acres were taken from Tinmouth, six thousand
one hundred and eighteen acres from Wells, two thousand three
hundred and eighty-eight acres from Poultney, and one thousand
eight hundred and twent\--acres from Ira ; making in all fourteen
thousand eight hunched and forty-one acres.

Those " high mountains," with which the petitioners for a new
town were " surrounded," seem to have directed the survey ; as,
in point of fact, all acquainted with the locality well know that the
town is surrounded by hills and mountains running around it in
such directions, that the survey, as above given, in running
around on the tops of those hills and mountains, gives the pecu-
liar and unusual form which Middletown has, as will be seen from
the map ; and this accounts for the form or shape of the town.

I have very much desired to give you more than I am able to
of the action of the people in procuring their charter ; or, more
properly speaking perhaps, their act of incorporation, and for that
purpose have sent to the ofrice of the Secretary of State fur the
original petition, but the Secretary writes me that it cannot be
found. Joseph Spaulding, doubtless, took the lead in that move-

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 9

ment. He was a practical surveyor, and made the survey which
appears in the act; and in this survey he was governed by his
own judgment, that is, the people submitted that matter to him,
and he, in fact, located the bounds of the town. He ran his lines
where he thought it best for all concerned, and no one, either in
Middletown or the towns from which it wras taken, to our knowl-
edge, was ever dissatisfied; and, indeed we do not see how any
one could be. After Mr. Spaulding had made his survey, and
completed his arrangements for bringing the matter before the
Legislature, the people conceded to him the honor of giving the
name to the town, which he did. Mr. Spaulding had removed
here from Middletown, Conn., and that name he said was thereby
suggested to him, and be thought it very appropriate from the fact
that the new town which they had in contemplation, and which if
created, would be located in the middle of four towns. In the
fall of 1784, the Legislature of Vermont sat at Rutland. Mr.
Spaulding, with the petition in his pocket — the necessary arrange-
ments having been completed — went to Rutland while the Legisla-
ture was in session, and as we say in modem times " engineered
it through thp act was passed.

This act of the Legislature we have seen was passed October
28th, 17b4. AVehnd a record of a town meeting November 17th,
1784, of which the following is a copy :

" At a town meeting holden at Middletown, at the "meeting
ts house, on Wednesday, the 17th day of November, 178-1,
" Vottd) Edmund Bigelow, Moderator; Joseph Rockwell, Town
" Clerk ; Edmund Bigelow, Justice of the Peace ; elected as a
" committee, Edmund Bigelow, Joseph Rockwell and Joseph
" Spaulding, [to reckon with several inhabitants of the town
" respecting costs made in getting the town established. The
" meeting was adjourned to Thursday the 22d inst."

" At the adjourned meeting — Voted, That the amount allowed
" by the committee chosen for examining accounts for getting the
" town established be two pounds, 12 shillings and 7 pence.

Joseph Rockwell, Register."

* The meeting house mentioned was the log one.

10

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

The record of which the foregoing is a copy, must be regarded
as the record of the organization of the town. There is no record
of any notice of the meeting, (if there was one it was not
recorded,) but the record leaves no doubt of the date of the organ-
ization, to wit: November 17th, 1784. Prom this record we
learn that Edmund Bigelow was the first moderator of the town,
and the first Justice of the Peace — the latter office he held for
many years* afterwards, and that Joseph Rockwell was the first
Tov. ii Clerk. We also learn the expenses of " getting the town
established," from which we may conclude that it was not very
expensive, at least to the town.

The first annual town meeting was held en March 7th, 1785, at
.which meeting they elected the following town officers : Hon.
Thomas Porter of Tinmouth, being present, was chosen moderator,
Joseph Rockwell, town clerk ; Jonathan Brewster, Jacob Wood
and Edmund Bigelow, selectmen ; Caleb Smith, town treasurer ;
Ephraim Wood, constable ; Ashur Blunt, Jona. Griswold, Reuben
■Searl, lifters; Silas Mallary, collector: Jona. Frisbie, leather
sealer ; Samuel Sunderlin, Reuben Searl, grand jurymen ; Nathan
Record, tithingman ; Eiislla Gilbert, hay ward ; Caleb Smith,
brander of horses ; Increase Rudd, sealer of measures : Edmund
Bigelow, sealer of weights ; Abraham White, Solomon Hill, John
Sunderlin. Benjamin Haskins, Benjamin Coy, Phineas Chough and
James MeChu e, highway surveyors ; e Luther Filmore, pound
keeper, Thomas Morgan, William Frisbie and Increase Rudd,
fence viewers.

At the same meeting Ephraim Wood, Gamaliel Waldo, Reuben
Seorl, Bethel Kurd Benj. Coy, James MeClure and Edmund
Bigelow, ?vere appointed a committee to divide the town into
school districts. That committee afterwards performed that duty,
and the school districts, with a very little alteration, remain to tins
day as recommended by that committee.

At the same meeting the town

u Voted, to work two days on highways."

H Voted, that swine should not run at large."

» Voted, that warnings be put up on the meeting house until a
u sign post be erected."

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOW.N.

11

Immediately following the record of this the first annual town
meeting, is a record of what is called " A Roll of the freemen of
Middletown." There is no date given to it, and my first impres-
sion was, that it was a list of those who voted at a freeman's
meeting in the fall of 1785, but on examination of it, and other
records and facts that have come to my knowledge, I was well
satisfied that it was made in the spring of 1785. It may be a list
of those who voted at the town meeting March 7th, 1785, but that
it was made early in the spring of that year, I think is quite

certain. This " Roll " I have copied
names :

Ephraim Wood,
John Sunderlin,
Dan'l Raskins,
Samuel Sunderlin,
Jacob Wood,
Reuben Searle,
Joseph Spaulding,
Jona. Brewster,
Benj. Hciskins, ^
Jona. Harries,
Increase Rudd, •
Jesse Hubbard,
Barzilla Handy,
Gideon Miner.

It is very fortunate for our purpose that the foregoing roll was
made and recorded. By that means we are now able to give ail
or nearly all the names of the first settlers of the town, or of those
who settled here prior to the spring of 1785. We can add to
that list the names of Luther Filmore, James and Thomas McClure
and Silas Mallary, who are known to have been here prior to the
time this roll was made. Fillmore, as we have seen, wag here
before the revolutionary war, and was elected pound keeper at the
first annual meeting ; Maliary was elected collector, and James
and Thomas McCIute are known to have been here about as early

Isaiah Johnson,
Abel White,
Benj. Coy.
Timothy Smith,
Francis Perkins,
Samuel Stoddard,
Benj. Butler,
Nathan Record,
Jona. Meliuran,
Elisha Gilbert,
Ri ch a r d 1 i a skins ,
Thomas Morgan,
Chauncy Graves,

The following are the

William Frisbie,
Anson Perry,
Sylvanus Stone,
Thomas French,
Gideon Buel, ~
Caleb Smith,
Jona Griswokl,
Gamaliel Waldo,
Joseph Rockwell,
David Grisvvold,
Edmund Bigdow,
Philemon Wood,
Jona. Frisbie,

as r

w

ere it in my power,

five a bio

rv

of

each and every man on the roll, and of the four others last above

12

HISTORY OF MIDL>Ll-:TOWN.

named ; but I shall give you all that I have been able to learn of
them, after speaking generally of their character, and of the
progress they had made in the settlement of the town up to this
time, (spring of 1785.) It is due to the memory of those
pioneers that we record their good deeds— and this tvo, we would
also do for the benefit of the present and future generations. If
we may learn from example,, in my opinion, none more worthy
can be found than we have in the men whose names are on that
roll. They were men of great physical strength and endurance,
but that was not all ; they were men of decided energy and mental
ability — nor was that all ; they were honest men, unselfish, and a
large majority of them were religious men of the Puritan stamp.
They were mostly from Connecticut, and came poor, some with
nothing but their hands, others with a horse or a yoke of oxen,
bringing with them their families and effects upon a wagon or sled.
I have often thought 'that we, at this day, have very inadequate
ideas of what is to be done in a new country, especially in one
covered with a heavy forest as this was before our ancestors came
here. The prairies of the West may be put under improvement,
and towns built up with much less labor and time — but when a
mau makes a pitch in the woods, though he may be young, strong
and healthy, the best part of Ids life for physical labor will be
spent by the time his farm is cleared up and under cultivation, and
his buildings are erected ; and in addition to this, roads and
bridges are to be built ; churches and school houses to be organ-
ized, and all the institutions of civilization are to be founded.
But those men who first came here were equal to the task; each
selected his place, put up his rude cabin, went into it with his
family and effects, and commenced at once in clearing up his land.
Interrupted as the settlement was by the revolutionary war, yet
we find by the first grand list which was taken in the spring of
1785, that five hundred and seventy-four acres of land had then
been cleared. The personal property put into that grand list was
eighty-one cows, forty-seven horses, thirty-six oxen, eighty steers,
seventy-three head of other cattle, and twenty- two swine. It is a
small grand li-'t when ' compared with that of the town at the
present time, but the wonder is how they could have cleared up

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 13

that amount of land and acquired that amount of stock in so short
a time. A large portion of this work had been accomplished in
the years of 1782-3 and 1784. My father who was a son of
William Frisbie, told me before he died, that when his father's
family came here, which we have seen was in 1781, that he could
distinctly recollect what had then been done by way of settlement,
He was then six years old. He said that Filmore had cleared up
three or four acres where the village now is. Morgan had a little
more than that cleared, and the two Haskins and Azor Perry had
made some progress in their clearing. He told me that according
to his recollection, six log houses had been put up within the pres-
ent limits of the town, when he came. here. Those he gave mo as
Mr. Morgan's, Filmore's, the two Haskins', dough's and Azor
Perry's. Those were undoubtedly all there were in the town, or
within what is now the town in the spring of 1781, except what
had been put up on the " McClure road," as it has been called —
fur it is well known that Isaac Clark (old llifle) settled there as
early as 1779, and that -year he was made town clerk of Ira, and
James and thomas McClure settled there, it is believed, the same
year. My father did not know of this, or it had escaped his
recollection.

Those facts are now referred to, to show the rapidity of the
settlement, and it may be added that but few came in. 1781, so
that by far the greater portion of what was dune prior to the
spring of 17S5 was performed during the years of 1782, 'So and
At this time, (1785) we find at least forty-four freemen in
the town — the number of inhabitants might have been three or
fair hundred, as most of the early settlers had large families. >Ye
find they had cleared up five hundred and seventy-four acres of
land, and this was in small patches from one to thirty acres in
different parts of the town ; they had procured a charter or act of
incorporation, and had organized the town. Two churches had
been organized., Congregationalist and Baptist, a meeting house
had been built, and initiatory steps had been taken to divide the
town into school and highway districts. A grist and saw mill had
■ been erected, and were in active operation, grinding the grain of
the settlers, and sawing their lumber. Three framed houses had

14

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

been built in the town, and preparations were being made for
building more. Thus we have before us what this band of men
with strong hands and resolute hearts accomplished in this short
space of time.

But we are to speak of those men individually, and in doing
this we shall also in the same connection, speak of their descend-
ants. This may not be in proper order, but with my want of
ability and experience as a writer, I do not propose to be responsi-
ble for any want of order or method in my history, but expect to
be responsible for the statement of facts I give.

Thomas Morgan li made the first clearing,"' as he once said to
me, and of which there can be no doubt; and as before mentioned,
it was about three-fourths of a mile south of where the village now
is. Mr. Morgan claimed to have built the first framed house in
town, though he said Filmore and Richard Raskins each com-
menced building the same season, but that his house was first. com-
pleted. The house is now standing and owned by his grandson,
Daniel Morgan, and of late years has been occupied by tenants^
Mr. Morgan was from the town of Kent, in Connecticut. He was
three times married, but had one child only, the late Jonathan
Morgan. Thomas Morgan lived where he first settled up to about
the "time of his death which occurred "December 20th, 1841, at
the age of ninety-four years. Jonathan Morgan was born in
1782, and was the first child born in Midclletown, (that is in what
became Middletown in 1784.) Mr. Morgan was regarded by
many as being over tenacious of his rights,' and has often been
accused of being needlessly violent in asserting his rights ; — but
he was a man of good judgment, well informed, and always kept
himself familiar with all the affairs of the town. ■ He was for
for many years a justice ox the peace ; represented the town in
1838, and very often held the office of selectman, and other
offices, the duties of which he was never known to neglect, but
discharged them understaudingly, and- with an honest purpose.
In the latter nart of November, 1857, Mr, Morgan then quite
feeble, drove his horse and carnage from his house to the village
upon some errand, and on his return, his horse took fright soon
after crossing the bridge in the soutfTpart of the village, threw

HISTOBY OF MIDDLETOWN.

15

him out of his carriage, and so injured him that he never recov-.
ered. If lie had been well the fall might not have injured him
much, but feeble as he was, he survived the shock but a few days.
He died at Mrs. Green's, December 3d, 18-17, at the age of
seventy-five,

Jonathan Morgan left seven children ; three sons and four
daughters. The oldest son was^ in California when last heard
from ; the second, Baniel, now occupies and owns the homestead
of Ins father, also the homestead of his grandfather. The third
son, Merritt, recently moved from Middletown to Cambridge, Yt.
The oldest daughter, Huldah, married Daniel Cushman, of Pawlet,
and now resides in that town : the second daughter married
Nathan Winn, and lives in Wallingford ; the third daughter,
Lorensj, died about two years ago ; the youngest daughter lives
in Lowell, Massachusetts, and is unmarried, Daniel Morgan is.
the only representative of Thomas Morgan now left in Middletown.
x. Luther Filmore was the man who felled, the forest where the
village now is. Lie came here from Bennington, but where he
was from original!}7 is noo in my power to say. His grandson once
told me that he was a brother of the grandfather of Millaid Fil-
more. the late President of the United States. If that was so,
we shall not claim that he was any better or worse for being a
brother of a man, who had so distinguished a grandson; but the
old folks all acrree in giving Mr. Filmore the credit of being a
sensible man, and a good citizen. He "seemed to have the public
interest at heart, and did much towards giving a start to the
village. He had put up Ins temporary cabin, (as before men-
tioned,) on the south-west corner of the common or " green," as
it 13 called. He afterwards built a framed house on the opposite
side of the road, and in what is now Mrs. Gray's door yard, or
that part of it situated on the west side of the house in which she
now lives. Mr. Filmore owned the land now occupied as a burial
ground, and gave a deed of it to the town September 80th, 1787.
Ho also owned the " green also owned one hundred and fifty
acres which included the present limits of the village. To Mr.
Filmore belongs the honor of being the first Inn keeper in town.
He commenced keeping tavern soon after he built his house, an4

1

16 HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

a tavern was kept in the house by him and one of the Brewster
family until some years after 1800. Sometime after 1811, Henry
Gray bought the place, and lived in the "house until about 1835,
when he built the brick house, which has since been occupied by
him and his family. The old tavern house was moved down below
" cider mill hill," repaired, and has since been occupied by tenants
of Mr. Gray. Luther Filmore died February 9th, 1800, at the
age of sixty. He left several sons, none are now living. Mrs.
Hutchins, the widow of Elisha Hutchins, now living in this town,
is a grand daughter of Luther Filmore, and is the only descendant
in town left. Mrs. Hutchins has two brothers, Luther and Edmund
Filmore, who were natives of the town, but are now living in some
cf the western states.

Richard Haskins, who settled, as before stated, near where
Lucius Copeland, Esq., now lives, did not return after Bennington
battle as soon as his brother Benjamin did, but was kept longer in
the service. Mr. Haskins was from Norwich, Conn,, the same
town from which the Wood families came ; he had lived with them
in Connecticut. When the Woods came in 1782, they took pos-
session of his settlement there, and Haskins took the next lot
north, which is now knewn as Mr. Copeland Haskins' farm.
Haskins put that farm under improvement, lived a long and indus-
trious life, raised a large family of children, drew a pension of
ninety-six dollars a year, and died about 1845 in Highgate, Yt.,
where he had a short time before gone to reside with one of his
sons. He was over eighty years old when he died. He has no
descendants now in town.

Benjamin Haskins, though somewhat erratic, was a more useful
man to society in his time, than his brother Richard, and had a
more reputable family. He was a member of the congregational
church, and a sober, sedate, eccentric man, and was called
" Deacon Ben/' though he never held the office of Deacon.
Though to appearances, a dull, slow man, yet when occasion
required, he showed himself to be a resolute, and powerful man.
On one occasion while driving some cattle from Pawlet to his
home, which we have seen was where Dea. A. liaynes now lives,
he was set upon by a pack of fourteen %olves near what is known

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

17

8 i

I M

as the Wait place, about two miles south of bis house. He pre-
pared himself on their approach with a strong cudgel, and suc-
ceeded in beating them off, and bringing himself and cattle away
unharmed. He was a kind and obliging neighbor, and zealous in
al! good works. He died in 18*24, at the age of seventy.

Phineas Clough died September 24th, IbOO on the same farm
on which ho early settled. He left but one child, a daughter,
who married Erasmus Orcutt. She succeeded to the farm by
inheritance, and it has since been known as the Orcutt farm.
Major Clough, as he was always called, was also an eccentric man,
but a man of good material for a new country. If anything was
nec.ssary to be done which required great exertion, he was not
the man to avoid the responsibility. He was not a member of
any church, but was a member of the Congregational Society.
On one occasion, at a meeting of the society, some measure was
proposed which would require a large expenditure, and was at
first strongly opposed by a majority of the society, including in
that majority many members of the church. Mr. Clough came to
the rescue. He told the society that he regarded, it of vital
importance that the measure should be carried; that he v. as will-
ing to give his farm, if necessary, rather than have it fail ; that
although he was not a professor of religion, yet he was sensible
that property was of no account unless the institutions of religion
could be sustained. It is almost needless to add that Mr. Clough
prevailed. Mrs. Orcutt had five children, only one is now living,
Phineas C. Orcutt, who resides in Western New York.

A zor Terry comes next in the. order of settlement. Mr. Perry
procured a deed of one of the original proprietors of the town of
Tmmouih in 1777, of a large piece of land then in that town, now
Middletown. The deed was executed in Bennington, and in the
spring of 1778 he shouldered his ax, all he had to bring but the
clothes he wore, and took possession of his land. It was the
same piece of land lung known as the Azor Perry farm, and now
owiied and occupied by Jonathan At water, Ho put up a log
k>usp, between where Mr. Atwater's dwelling house now is and
bia culer mill, and about where his corn house now stands. He
covered his house with poles and bark. He made a bedstead of
2

28

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN..

poles, and used elm bark as a substitute for eords. He lived
alone the first year, and managed to get a cow the first summer,
which he wintered on browse ; that is, he cut down trees, and the
cow eat the tops. lie was married at Bennington in 1779. He
had managed, in the year before he was married, to save enough
to get a calico wedding dress for his wife, and some few indispen-
sible articles of household furniture to commence with. Mr.
Perry was a rough, unpolished man, and a man of strong will and
undoubted courage. He was from the town of Orange, Conn., but
lived a while in Bennington before coming to Middletown. He
was in Bennington battle, and in one or two engagements in the
first yenr of the war. A good many good stories were told of his
encounters with bears and wolves, during his first years in Middle-
town. We can make room for but one or two :- — On one occasion
he was in the woods about a mile from his house, when he saw a
young bear, a cub, and having no weapons to kill it, he ran and
caught it, when the cub seizing one of his hands in his mouth, bit-
ing through his hand, held it fast in its mouth. Perry, in vain
tried to extricate his hand from the cub's mouth, and when he saw
he could not do it without help, he took the cub, weighing over one
hundred pounds, under his arm and carried it to his house, a mile
or more, where with assistance he was relieved.

At another time, there was a bear that lived on the hills some
where between the Smith Wait and Buxton farms, and had become
notorious for killing the sheep, calves and hugs, and destroying the
corn in that vicinity. There had been a good deal of effort to kill
the bear without success. At length, it was resolved to engage
Mr. Perry to dispatch the bear, which he was very ready to
undertake. This was in the fall of the year, and it had been
ascertained that the old bear visited, during the evenings, a corn
field near where the apple orchard now is on the Buxton farm,
then owned by William Frisbie. Perry was informed of this and
came on a certain evening, agreeable to appointment, and found a
score or so of the citizens of the vicinity collected, and ready
to render him assistance if he wanted. He told them that he
wanted but one ot their number; that one was selected, and the two
with their muskets made their way to the cornfield. After

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

10

arriving there, they stopped and listened awhile, and soon heard
the hear at work at the corn. As soon as they had ascertained
the bear's locality, Perry told his man to go to a certain point
named by him, (Perry,) and shoot at the bear, and said, u if you
kill him. very well ; if you don't, the hear will be after you, and if
he does, run behind me — I will stand here." The man did as
directed by Perry, shot at the bear, wounded him and then ran
towards Perry, the bear in a rage following. The man took shelter
behind Perry, who stood quietly in his tracks until the bear had
come up within twenty feet of him, when he raised his musket and
snapped it, but there was no discharge. Mr. Perry began to curse
his firelock, but rapidly continued to snap it until the bear had
approached, walking on his hind feet, near enough to take the
•muzzle of the gun into his mouth, when the gun went off and, of
course, killed the bear. In this affair, he did not appear to
manifest any fear, or any other feeling except that he was vexed,
at his gun.

Mr. Perry acquired a good property — had eleven children,
scveial of them are now living—one, Mrs. Atwater, now lives upon
the place and in the house where her father lived and died.
Though not a religious man, Mr. Perry, like Major Ciough, gave
liberally for the support of religious institutions. He was a
member of the Congregational society. He died November 15th,
1821, at the age of 60,

James and Thomas McClure would seem to come next in the
order of settlement. They were brothers, and were natives
of Scotland ; they landed in this country at Boston, Massachu-
setts ; there were three brothers, and all came to Vermont, and
first stopped at Wallingford. After a little time, the two brothers
above named came to this place in 1779, looked this region over
and finally concluded to settle in what is now the north-east part
of the town — it was then in Ira, and they were induced to go there
by representations of Isaac Clark, who had located there and had
been mo.de town clerk of Ira. Clark represented to (hem that the
Village of Ira would be there. The place where the McCiure's

tiled is now in Middletown, and near the line between Middle-
Iowa and Ira. It is at the upper end of the road, which leaves

20 HISTORY OF MIDDLETOW2T.

the main road, running from Middletown to Tmmcnth, a little east
of what is known as the " Edgerton place," It is not probable
that any village or central place of business would ever have been
there, if that portion of Ira had not been taken to make a part of
Middletown — however, Clark and others undoubtedly thought so
at the time.

The MeClure brothers, like the other early settlers, set them-
selves resolutely at work clearing up their lands,- — I should judge,
from the early records, that they were much relied on, as they
hell many important positions. Thomas McCIure was the first
clerk of the Baptist Church, which office he held for several years.
James McCIure was placed on the committee at the -first annual
town meeting, to divide the town into school districts — he often
held town otHces, and seemed to be actively engaged in laying the
foundation of the institutions in the new settlement. James
McCIure, died February 22d, 1815, at the age of 07; Thomas,
died yc linger, and sometime before 18C0. Each left families ; of
James Met lure's family, were Doctor David G. McCIure and
Samuel McCIure. David G. succeeded Doctor Ezra Clark, as a
physician in town, and was in practice here several years prior to
1822, when he removed to the State of Ohio. He has been dead
some years. He left a family of a good deal of talent and enterprise.

The history of " Old Rifle " more properly belongs to some
other town, although he was on our territory for about seven
years, lie went to Castleton in 1786, and remained on the
64 McCIure Kill " from 1779 until that time. There are some
incidents in connection with, his family while residing on the
territory, which afterwards became a part of Middletown, which
we might reasonably claim as part of our history. ■ Mr. Clark's
wife, if she was not as good a marksman as her husband, was not
behind in bravery ; on a Sabbath day, when her husband was
absent, she discovered a bear in the cornfield, she took that same
rifle with which her husband had won his name, went out and
deliberately shot the bear.

Samuel MeClure was a farmer and lived in Middletown until his
death, which occurred about Eileen years ago., lie had a large
family ; three eons and two daughters are now living. David G.,

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 21

the oldest, now lives in Rutland ; he had two sons and three
daughters ; the sons, both hare responsible positions on some of
the railroads. The two .oldest daughters are married — one to C.
M. Haven, a route agent on the Rutland and Washington
railroad ; the other to Albert H. Tuttle, one of the proprietors of
the * Rutland Herald."

Harry B. McClure, the second son of Samuel McClure, always
has and still resides in Middletown, and has for many years been
one of the active and leading men of the town. He has a very
respectable family of six children, all boys, and all disposed to
work for a living.

Warren McClure, the youngest son of Samuel McClure, also
resides 'in Middletown, is a mechanic— he served his country three
years in the war of 1861.

The next in the order of time of settlement, was William Frisbie,
whose name, it will be seen, is on the roll of 1785. His native
place was Bethlehem, Conn.; to this. place, and llanvinton, Conn.,
all that I have ever known of the name, trace their ancestry. He
lived in Stillwater, New York, for a good many years before he
came here — all his children were born there. He was in the
battle of Saratoga, which was near his then residence. A relative
of his was one of the original proprietors of the town cf Wells, of
whom he purchased his land, and his family consisting of his wife
and six children, and his effects he brought here on an ox sled*
The land he bought was what is now known as the "Buxton farm."
He first put up a log house in the vicinity of where the brick house
now is, and in 1785 or '86 he built a frame house three or four rods
a little north of west of where the brick house now stands, William
Frisbie, from all we have learned of him, was somewhat eccentric,
but unlike some of his descendants, he was a very active man;
prompt and positive in the expression of his opinions, and iearlessly
uttered whatever came into his mind, whoever might be present*
He was inflexible and unyielding in his principles, and could not
endure anv wavering on the part of any one else. The old folks
h ive told me that, on one occasion, in a chuich meeting, he wr.s
unusually severe upon some wayward brother, when some one pre-
sent felt it his duty to rebuke him, and told him that it was his

22

HISTORY OF MIDDLETGTO*

duty to exercise charity towards the offending brother. His reply
was that " charity could not go without legs." William Frisbie
died March 1st, 1813, at the age of 76, He had two sons and
four daughters, two of his daughters died before he did. His
oldest son, William, Jr., was 17 years old when his father came
here. He had the reputation of being a good scholar and well
educated for the time. He studied medicine with Doctor Ezra
Clark, and after he had received his diploma, commenced practice
in company with Doctor Clark in Middletown, but soon went
to Pittsford, Yt., where he was in practice until abo»t 1810. He
was in practice in Pittsford, according to the best of our informa-
tion, about 25 years. He removed from Pittsford to Phelps,. N„
Y., where he lived until his death,, which occurred about the year
1887* He had the reputation of being a good physician, had
a large practice in Pittsford., and as I have been informed by the
old people in that town, tvas highly esteemed by all who knew him,
Some of his descendants are now living in Phelps, others are in the
Western States, and all seem to have traits of character similar to
those of the older William Prisbie. Zenas Frisbie, the second son
of William, Sr., was a farmer, lived and died in Middletown,--—
his age was 76 years — he died January 19th, 1851. He had
eight children, three are dead ; of the surviving, two sons and
a daughter are at the far West, one son in Poultney, and a
daughter, Mrs. Lucy A. Thomas, in Middietown, who is the only-
one left here of the race.

I cannot any further take up the names on that roll in the order
of time when they settled here. 1 shall next speak of Captain
Joseph Spaulding, a name ever to be honored by Middietown*
He first settled on what has been known as the u Mkah.Yail farm,"
now owned by C. Gift, but soon afterwards removed to where
Deacon A. Spaulding now lives, which place has ever since been
owned by 'him and his descendants. It has already appeared that
Captain Spaulding was the leading spirit " in getting the town
established." He was the surveyor who located the lines, and
gave the town its name. The town, very properly, made him their
first representative. He was about thirty -six years old when ho
came here, had taught school a good deal in Connecticut, and was

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

23

tn the revolutionary war from about the time of its commencement
until about the time he came to this place. He held some office in
his regiment which ranked with lieutenant, and for awhile he per-
formed the duties of adjutant. lie taught the first school in the
town, and taught a good many schools after that; he taught in all
during his life nearly forty winter schools, the last when he was
over seventy-five years old. He was the first captain of the mili-
tia in town, and held that office at the time of the Shays' rebel-
lion, in 1786, and when* the militia of the county were called on
to sustain the courts at Rutland, he started with his company fer
that place ; but on his arrival at Castleton was permitted to return,
as the mob had been dispersed by militia nearer at hand. lie
was a very candid, judicious man, no appearance of vanity or
ostentation about him ; yet he was firm in his convictions, and
decided in his opinions. He had not as much of the go-ahead in
him as many others of the early settlers ; but he was. probably,
the best educated of any of them, and the most capable for
transacting business. Those of ray age can recollect him welh
The last time that I saw him, in my recollection, was on
the Sabbath at church, which, I think, was not many months
before his death. During the recess of service, I saw him
take up a book and read without the use of spectacles ; and on
the same occasion myself and others engaged with him in conver-
sation. He was then the same candid, intelligent, christian man.
"His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.'* Captain
Spaulding died February 25th, 184.0, at the great age of ninety-
six years.

Deacon Asahel Spaulding and Harley Spaulding, now living
here, and Deacon Julius Spaulding, of Poultney, with their fami-
lies, are now the only representatives left in Vermont of several
numerous families who sprung from Captain Joseph Spaulding.

Jonathan Brewster settled on the farm now owned by Doctor
Eliakitn Paul, about one and one-half miles south of the village.
The exact time when he came here cannot now be given ; but
Groin records we have found, we know it was as early as
1782. He was very active, and the acknowledged leader in tho
formation of the congregational church, and was its first deacon,

24

HISTORY OF MIDBLET0WN.

and continued to act in that capacity until tho infirmities of age
prevented. He represented the town four years. Deacon Jon- '
athan Brewster died April 20th, 1820, at the age of seventy-six.
On the stone at the head of the grave, we find this quotation :
"There remaineth a rest for the people of God.'5 From what we
have learned of him, we think it appropriately used. He was a
very devoted man, and very laborious in the discharge of his
duties as a member and officer of the church, of which we shall
speak more fully when we come to the history of the churches.

Deacon Brewster had a large family of children, seven of whom
survived him. Their names were Orson, Ohel, Oramel and Jona-
than, Eunice, Lvdia and Joanna, Or^en was a valuable man.
He succeeded his father in the office of cleactn, which he held
until the spring of 1835, when he removed to Northampton.,
Mass., where he died a few years since at about the age of eighty
years.

Ohel died many years ago. He left two daughters, one of
whom is dead ; the other was the widow of the late Orson Clark,
now the wife of Doctor Amos Frisbie, formerly of Foultney, now
of Findlay, Ohio..

Jonathan and Oramel removed to Northern New York, an 5
died there many years ago.

The daughters of Deacon Jonathan Brewster were excellent-
women. Eunice married Fitch Loomis. She was the mother of
Reuben and Fitch Loomis, Jr., Mrs. Henry Gray. Mrs. Thaddeus
Terrill and Mrs, Johnson. She died about 1851.

Lydia married William Fay, long the proprietor of the " Rut-
land Herald." She survived her husband some years.

Joanna married Luther Cleaveland, and lived to be very old.
She has been dead but a short time. She died in Pawlet.

Gideon Miner removed from Woodbury, Connecticut, to Rut-
land in March, 1779, and from Rutland to Middlefcown in the
spring of 1782. He settled about two miles east of the village ?
at the place formerly known as " Miner's Mills," where Merrftt
Meiiuiiu now lives. Lie commenced at once in putting up a grist
and saw mill, which were made ready for use that season. These
were the first mills erected within the limits of the town, or at

HISTORY OP MIBDLETOWN. 25

least the first that did any business, and were of great service to
the new settlement. Mr. Miner had been a soldier in the French
war, and lost his health there, which he never fully recovered, yet
he lived to a great age. His wife, whose maiden name was Eliza-
beth Lewis, was a woman of uncommon ability, and great energy
of character. She was held in high esteem by all who knew her,
and was a noble type of those pioneer mothers who have stamped
so proud a character upon the people of tins state. She and her
husband, and nearly or quite all of their children, were members
of the congregational church. Mr. Miner died in 180S, and
his mm soon after, each being, at their death, eighty years old.

Abagail, their oldest child, married Thomas Davidson, who died
young, leaving his widow two sons, Gideon M. and Clement. Gid-
eon M. Davidson removed to Saratoga Springs in 1817, where lie
still resides, and is a man of wealth and influence. Clement Dav-
ison was for many years a jeweller in New York, but now resides
in Connecticut. Abagail, their mother, died at Saratoga in 18-13,
at the age of seventy-eight.

Samuel Lewis Miner, the oldest son, removed to, Castleton in
early life. He died in 1817, at the age of fifty. He left three
children, Ivoxena, then Mrs, Doctor Kellogg, Cyrena, since the
widow of a Mr. Armstrong, and Lewis. Mrs. Kellogg died in
Georgia in 1851. Lewis died in Castleton in 1852. Mrs. Arm-
strong still lives in Castleton,

Captain Joel Miner was the third child. He was a man of rare
mental capacity, and, for his time, did an extensive business. He-
was not a lawyer by profession, yet he had quite an extensive law
business. He was a prominent and leading man in this town until
Ids death. He would have been a leading man in any place.
Captain Miner died suddenly at Montpelier, while attending a ses-
sion of the Legislature, in the fall of 1813, at the age of forty-
four. He left several children, two of whom became distinguished
clergymen. Ovid, his eldest, first became a printer, under the
late William Fay. He established the " Vermont Statesman," at
Castleton, in 182G, which he published a few years, and then pub-
liilkd a paper at Middlebury for awhile. He entered the minis-
try ia 1833, and has since been in that avocation. He is now

26 HISTORY OF MIDI) LET OWN.

preaching at Hlion, New York. He is a man of decided ability,
and very earnest and zealous.

The other son of Captain Miner, who became a clergyman, was
the lamented Lamson Miner. He graduated at Middiebury, in
1833, the first in his class. After he had fitted himself for the
ministry, he settled in Cornwall. He died in 1841, at the age of
thirty-three, leaving a widow and infant daughter. His widow is
now Mrs. Leavitt, of Middiebury. Few men in the state, of his
age, have held a higher position, in the ministry than Lamson
Miner.

The fourth child of Gideon Miner, Sr., was Gideon Miner, Jr.,
so long known in this town as Deacon Miner. He was "born in
Woodbury, Connecticut, and was eight years old the day his
fathers family arrived at Rutland, and of course was eleven years
old when the family removed to Middle town. He married Rachel
Davison in December, 1793, and by her had eleven children.
One died in infancy, two others died young, the remaining eight
all lived to be married and have children.

Deacon Miner was in many respects a remarkable man. Few
men possessed a more retentive memory — he could always give
chapter and verse. He, too, though not a lawyer, was for many
years frequently engaged as counsel in justice trials in this town
and vicinity, and was usually opposed, in those trials, to his long
and intimate friend, General Jonas Clark, lie was very fond of
music, and constantly led the choir for ever sixty years, even up to
the third Sabbath preceding his death. lie was a deacon of the
congregational church in Middletown for nearly forty years ;
moved to Ohio in 1834; was immediately elected an elder of the
Presbyterian church, and served in that capacity about twenty
years. He was seldom absent from meeting, as many of us can
testify. He was the acknowledged leader in the congregational
church and society here for many years prior to his removal to
Ohio, and seldom has there been a man more competent for the
position which he held. Few men, and we may include clergy-
men, were more familiar with the bible than he was, or more capa-
ble of explaining and enforcing its doctrines. Deacon Miner died
at the residence of his son, Doctor Erwin L. Miner, in Ohio, with

C1ST0RY OF MIDPLETOWH. 21

'whom he had resided, in 1854, at the age of eighty-four. Doctor
Miner was the oldest of his eight children before mentioned. He
studied medicine with Docter Ezra Clark, whose daughter he
L married, and removed to the state of Ohio soon after, where he
: 1 still resides, a man of wealth and influence.

\ Ahiman Lewis Miner, the next child of Deacon Miner now Hv-
j ing, well -known in this part of the state as A. L, Miner, now
resides in Manchester, and is the only representative of the name
in Vermont, except his own children, and one or two children of
Lewis Miner, of Castleton. lie worked on his father's farm until
he was of age, then fitted for the sophomore class in college, at
Castleton. He did not enter college, but studied lav,- in the office
of Mailarj & Warner, in Poultney, and one year with Royce &
Hodges, in R inland, and was admitted to the bar in 1832, and
commenced practice at Wallingford. He removed from there to
Manchester in 1835, where he has since resided. He has been
twice married, and has bad eight children. His eldest son, Henry
]-]., died December, 1803. He was a young man of much prom-
ise, and was his father's partner in law business.

A. L. Miner has been eight years probate register and three
years probate judge of his district ; two years clerk of the Ver-
mont House of Representatives, nine years a member of the House
or Senate, five years State's Attorney in Bennington County, and
two years a member of Congress from this district. Mr. Miner
has done, for many years, and is now doing an extensive business
in his profession. He is an excellent citizen, a social, kind and
true-hearted man ; much esteemed by all who know him, and
especially by the people of his native town. Between him and
them there is a strong and enduring attachment.

The other two survivors of Deacon "Miner's children are Chloe
and Malvina. Chloe is a widow, and resides in the state of Ohio.
Malvina married a clergyman, and lives in Missouri.

Of Dt-acon Miner's children not living, there were two. daugh-
ters. One married Hiram Mahurm, and removed to Onandaga
County, New York. £j*e has been dead but a short time. The
oilier married A. \\\ Hubbard; moved to the state of Ohio, and
ti-cd in 1S58.

28 HISTORY OP MIDDLETOWN.

Of the sons, Orlin H. moved to the state of Ohio in 1834, and
died in 1836, aged thirty-six. lie left four children ; the oldest,
Orlin II., Jr., now resides in Springfield, Illinois, and is State
Auditor. lie was an intimate friend of President Lincoln, and
stands high as a public man in that state,

Thomas Davison Miner, the last named of the eight children of
Deacm Miner, died in the state of Ohio, in 1856. at the age of
forty-eight, leaving a large family. With the four children of
Deacon Miner, now living, he has over thirty grand children, and
over fifty great grand children, living.

Next to the deacon, of Gideon Miner, Sr.'s, children, was Ase-
nath. who married Alexander Murray. They moved to Albany,
Kew York, where he died young. Lamson, the next, died in
180G.

The youngest child of Gideon Miner, Sr., Elizabeth, was bora
in Woodbury, in the fall of 1778, and was but a little over three
years old when her father removed to Middletown. She married
the late Moses Copeland, and had four children — Lucius, Martin,
Betsey and Edwin. Lucius and Edwin have remained in Middle-
town, and for the last twenty or twenty-five years have been
among the prominent and leading citizens here, Lucius has
resided near the centre of the town, and by his superior financial
capaei.y has made himself useful to the town, to the congrega-
tional society of which he was a mernbsr, and to the citizens indi-
vidually.' lie has at heart the interests of the town, and the
interests of its institutions. Martin Copeland became a lawyer,
and went to Bristol, Vermont. After a practice of several years
at that place, he died there January 11th, 1861, at the age of
forty-seven. Betsey married Deacon Julius Spaulding, and died
in Poultney in 1805. Moses Copeland, their father, died May 3d,
1858, at the age of eighty-eight ; and his widow, Elizabeth, the
youngest and last survivor of Gideon Miner, Sr.'s, children, died
in Poultney at the residence of Deacon Spaulding, her son-in-law,
in the fall of lSdO.

It is, perhaps, here proper to say, that the traits of character
which distinguished the Miner family, are found in nearly all their
descendants. The children of the females, who take other names,

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 29

are- Miners, and nearly all are marked by energy, a retentive
memory, fluency of speech, are easy to learn, and perhaps without
an exception, both the dead and living, have sustained good moral
! characters, and been useful citizens.

Caleb Smith, whose name appears on the roll of 1785, we think
mast have been here as early as 1783, and perhaps earlier. lie
settled on the place now owned by Elijah Ross, Esq., known as
the "Allen Yail farm/' He built the house now standing there,
which is one of the oldest houses in town. He was very efficient
in establishing the Baptist Church, and was its first moderator,
and the first deacon — the latter o'fice he held until his death. He
VM also the first town treasurer.

Deacon Smith was an exemplary man, faithful and reliable, and
of great service in laying the foundation of the Baptist Church
here. He died February 10th, 1808, at the age of fifty-nine.
He left one son, Jedediah Smith, who removed to Western New
York since 1835, and one daughter, who married Rosweli Tillie of
Tinmouth. She died some years ago ; she was the mother of
Ezra T. Tillie, now living in Pawlet, and Erwin E. Tillie,* now of
Banby.

Gamaliel Waldo first settled in Pownal in this state, and was
there during the Revolutionary War. After the taking of Ticon-
dero^a by the Green Mountain Boys under Allen, and before that
post was evacuated by the Americans in 1777, Mr. Waldo was
employed to carry provisions to the garrison at Ticonderoga, a
duty more perilous probably than the battle field, lie used oxen
in carrying his provisions, and on one occasion, he put his oxen
into a boat on the Vermont side of the lake, to take them across
to the fort, but on the way, they jumped overboard into the lake,
and swam back to the Vermont shore ; they were afterwards
resetted and saved.

Mr. Waldo came to this place as early as 1782. He found his
way from Pawlet by marked trees, and so did the other settlers of
bis time. He settled on the place now owned by Mr. Hnrlbert,
cleared up that hinn and lived there until his death, which occurred
in 18J9. Mr. Waldo was a resolute, fearless man, but a good
neighbor, and a faithful member of the Baptist Church, and one of

30 HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

its founders. Mr. Waldo married the mother of Asa Gardner,
who was then a widow with five children, one son and four daugh-
ters ; one of those daughters married the Rev. Sylvanus Haynes,
the first settled minister in town. Mr. Waldo also had bj her five
children, one son and four daughters, and one of those daughters
was the wife of Stephen Kevcs.

Asa Gardner was ten years old when the family removed here.
He was a hard- working, industrious man ; he lived to be nearly
eighty years old. lie died in Middletown in 1849. Three of his
sons, Charles, Aimer and Daniel R,, still reside here, are already
among the oldest inhabitants, and among the best examples in the
town of industry, economy and thrift.

Asher Blunt and Nathan Walton came here about the same
time Mr. Waldo did, and settled, north of him, on the road leading
to Ira over the hills. Mr. Blunt was one of the substantial men
here for some years, but removed to Northern New York quite
early, and but little is now known of him or his family. Mr. Walton
was a very good man, raised a large family, and died in 1829.
He was out of health for some years before he died, which dimin-
ished, somewhat, his usefulness as a citizen.

Edmund Bigelow, the moderator of the meeting at which the
town was organized, and the first Justice of the Peace, settled at
the place where John P. Taylor now lives, a locality which will
ever be held in remembrance by the writer, as a large portion of
his life was spent there. Mr. Bigelow seems to have been the
acting magistrate in town for fifteen years or more subsequent to
the time of his first election, and to have been a competent man
for his position. The year of his death we are unable to ascertain.
He left a family of considerable ability. The late Dr. Bigelow of
Bennington, was a son of his. Dr. Bigelow was some years since
a Senator in the Vermont Legislature from Bennington County.
He married Dorinda Brewster, who survives him. She is the only
survivor of Deacon Orson Brewster's family.

Joseph Rockwell, the first town clerk, settled where E. PrMIe
now lives, between the village and the Allen Vail farm. He wa3
a competent town clerk, as the early records will show. He was
among the first members of the Congregational Church, said to

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 31

Lave been a quiet, candid and sensible man, though not as active
and energetic as many others. The late Solomon Rockwell was
his son. There are none of his descendants living here, but some
are living in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., who, we are informed
are worthy citizens.

John and Samuel Sunderlin settled north of the village. Samuel,
I think, on the place recently owned by Mrs. Germond, not far
from Mr. Harvey Leffingwell. John Sunderlin was made a Lieu-
tenant under Capt. Spanlding, when the militia were organized.
He was a man of real worth and had a very respectable family.
Mrs. Leffingwell, widow of Dyer Leffingwell, also the widow of
Ohcl Brewster were his daughters, The most of us remember her
as an excellent woman. She has been dead but a few years.

Daniel Sunderlin, a son of John, married Nancy Stoddard.
Erwin and Edwin Sunderlin, who succeeded Merritt and Horace
Clark as merchants here, were sons of his.

John Sunderlin died about the year 182G, on the farm now
owned by the estate of Whitney Merrill, and occupied by William
Dayton. Samuel Sunderlin, after residing here a few years,
removed to Shoreham, where he lived and died at an advanced
age. He had a family of several children. John, was born in
Middletown in 1784. He spent the greater portion of his life in
Shoreham, but returned to Middletowu to live with his daughter,
Mrs. Deacon Haynes, some few years before his decease. He
died March 11th, 1862, at the age of seventy-eight. The Rev.
Byron Sunderlin, a distinguished clergyman at Washington, D,
C, is a grandson of Samuel. Sunderlin.

Increase Rudd settled upon the farm now occupied by Mrs.
Aden H. Green, known as the 4£ Bigelow farm." He had a large
family, and his descendants were numerous, but long since have
removed from here, with the exception of Mr. Eli .Rudd, who is
the only one left.

Gideon Buel, Jonathan and David Griswold all settled on the
road, or what is now the road, leading from " Miner's Mills " to
the Ilasjdns' place, where Deacon liayncs now lives. They were
all soldiers of the revolution. Mr. Buel and David Griswold each
drew a pension while they lived,

32

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

Mr. Buel had several children. Roswell, who represented the
town two years, has recently died ; Mrs. Marcus Stoddard,
and another son who removed west in early life.

Roswell Buel, Jr., a grandson of Gideon Buel, is his only repre-
sentative left in Vermont. He is a lawyer; was admitted to iiut-
land County Bar in 1846, but has not been much in practice for
some years. Roswell Buel, Sr., had three sons. Ezekiel, the
second, is a physician ; has had a good practice in his profession
in New Philadelphia, Ohio, for the last twenty years and over.
He was a surgeon of cue of the Ohio regiments through the war
of 1861. He has acquired a good property, and is respected.
The third son, "Napoleon B., was one of the volunteers from Mid-
dle town in the late war, and was killed in one of the battles before
Petersburg.

Jonathan Griswold removed from the place where he first set-
tled, which has recently been known as the Cole farm, formerly
the Roger farm, to a place above where Reuben Mehurin now
lives. From the early records we should regard him as having
faithfully performed his duty in the new settlement. He died
much younger than his brother David, Of his family we have
been able to learn but little. He had a son, Jonathan, who met
his death under circcmstances sad and painful. He was accident-
ally killed on a " training day," in June, 1816. lie was then an
officer in the company of militia. The accident occurred in the
latter part of the day, after the company had been discharged.
A company had collected in the bail room of the present hotel for
a dance. The members of the militia company, without form or
order, were saluting them by discharging their muskets, heavily
loaded with powder, in front of the hotel, and during these exer-
cises Griswold received the contents of a musket- discharged
within a few feet of his head, which killed him instantly. The
affair cast a gloom over the people of Middletown, and for a long
time the foolish practice of firing on training days was almost
wholly abandoned ; and so long as the militia trainings were con-
tinued, the fathers and mothers, as their sons started on the morn-
ing of the first Tuesday of June uto go to training," as a matter

HISTORY OF MIDPLETOWN. S3

of caution, would rehearse to them the fate of " poor Jonathan
G nevoid."

David Griswold lived to December 10th, 1842, and was ninety-
three years old when he died. His children all removed from
this town many years ago, except his son David. He married
Emily Paul, a daughter of Stephen Paul, and sister of Doctor
Eliakim Paul. David, Jr., died some eight years ago. lie left
five children, one son and four daughters. The son, Stephen
Angelo, enlisted in the 7th Vermont regiment, and lost his life in
Florida. His mother and younger sisters reside on the old home-
stead.

Jonathan Frisbie was a brother of William Frisbie, and settled
where J ehiel Parks now lives. He was a man of less energy, and
not as excitable as his brother. He had several children, most of
whom died young. He died before his brother, and it is not
■known that any of his descendants are now living.

Benj. Coy went to Tinmouth before the revolutionary war, but
left after that commenced, and when he returned, after the close
of the war, settled in this town, where his grandson, Charles P.
Coy, now resides. He was an industrious man, frugal, honest,
and successfully made his way to comfort and independence. Mr.
Coy had a large family of children. Three of them, Ebenezer
Coy, Mrs. Charles Gardner, and another daughter, are still living.
Mrs. Gardner stili resides in this town. Martin H. and Charles
P. Coy, the sons of Reuben Coy, who was a son of Benjamin,
now resides here, and are of that class of men with whom may be
eafeljr trusted the interests of the town. Men of intelligence,
integrity and good moral principles — if we may so say, a middling
class, upon whom, I have often thought, is our great reliance in
this country.

Francis Perkins was a soldier in the revolution, and served
nearly through the entire time. He was from ISTew London,
Conn* He fu st located himself where John Lewis now lives, but
afterwards, about 17 8G, removed below there where Mr. Charles
tyardtyeg1 now lives, and there resided until his death. Mr. Pcr-
fu-sc cleared up a spot, and put up a log house, and covered
it with bark and hemlock boughs, and for a door he hungup a
3

34 HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

blanket. There was then no sawed timber to be had. Miner's I
saw mill had not been completed, lie then had a wife and one j
child. He subsisted the fast summer, in great part, upon greens
and leaks, and commenced boiling green pumpkins to eat as soon
as they had grown to any size. It was then very difficult for him
or any of the settlers to procure grain. Morgan, Azor Perry
and some few had so much of a start that they had raised their
own grain, but not much to spare. Once or twice during this
summer, Mr. Perkins carried some potash to Manchester, and pur-
chased with that what he could bring home on his back. On one
occasion he went down to Azor Perry's and worked for him a day,
and received in payment a half bushel of grain. This he took
■upon his back, carried to Mr. Miner's grist mill, which had just
got into operation, had it ground, and carried it home, making
about nine miles travel, besides his days work, on that clay. On
his arrival home, lie found his cabin deserted ; his wife and child
had gone, he knew not where. What to do he did not know ; but
as it was late in the evening, and very dark, he concluded he
might content himself as best ha could until morning, and then
find his wife and child if he could In the morning, as roon as it
was light, l>enj. Coy appeared at his cabin and informed him that
his wife and child had staid with him (Coy) over night. Perkins
went directly home with, Coy, and found his wife and child there
safe and unharmed. His wife then gave him the following, as the
cause of her leaving the night before : Soon after dark their pig
came running through the doorway under the blanket into the
cabin closely pursued by a large bear, but the bear, from some
cause (probably from the sight of fire), did not enter, bat with
his head under the blanket surveyed the apartment for a moment,
and then left. She was very much frightened, took her child in
her arms, started en a run for Mr. Coy's, the pig following— prob-
ably the most hazardous thing she could have clone — but was not
molested by the bear on her way there. Mr. Perkins, after his
return with his wife, rolled up some logs before the door, went to
paw Jet, got some boards, brought them home on his back, made a
door, and said that evei after that he felt secure from the intru-
sion of bears.

1770101

HISTORY OP M I f > D L E T 0 W N . u5

Francis Perkins was an upright man, mild in his deportment,
firm and inflexible in his principles, and was never known to devi-
ate from what he regarded as honorable, just and right. In this
respect he was like nearly all of the first settlers of the town, nor
was he unlike them in the hardships, deprivations and dangers
which he had to encounter after coming into this then forest. His
experience is, perhaps, a little more striking, in that respect, than
can be now related of many of them. Yet take away the bear
etory, and there is but little difference in what he had to endure,
and that endured by most of the others who came here prior and
during the year 1783. Nor was he alone beset with wild beasts.
Many of the settlers had their hogs, sheep and calves killed by
bears and wolves, and same times taken out of their yards, where
they invariably kept their stock in the night time for some years
after the settlement was commenced.

Mr. Perkins drew a pension of ninety-six dollars a year, and
acquired a comfortable property. He died December 2Gth, 1844,
at the age of eighty-six years. He has no descendants, to our
knowledge, in Vermont.

Jonathan Haynes was, probably, the lost man who came here
before that roll was made. He came early in March, 1785. His
son, Hezekmh, who lived in this town almost eighty years after-
wards, was then five years old, and from him we have had an
intelligible and, doubtless, true account of his father's history,
also much of the early history of the town.

Jonathan Haynes was born in Massachusetts. His father had
emigrated from England. The family are able to trace their
ancestry back several generations to Jonathan Haynes, who was
born in England in 1016. Jonathan Haynes, the subject of this
sketch, removed from Haverhill, Mass., to Bennington, Vt., before
the revolutionary war. His name appears on the roll of Captain
Samuel Ilobmson's company, which is still preserved. That com-
pany was in the battle of Bennington. Mr. Haynes was severely
wounded the first day of that battle. He received his wound at
a time when the Americans were falling back to take a more
advantageous position. A musket bail struck him under the left
shoulder blade, passed through his body, and came out at his right

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOw^.

breast, and passed through his right arm near the wrist, which
was at the time extended, in the act of ramming down the cart-
ridge in his gun. This occurred about two o'clock in the after-
noon. Not long afterwards, those who were sent out to pick up
the wounded, came to Mr. Haynes and offered their assistance ;
hut he told them he could live hut a short time, that they had bet-
ter look after those who could be saved. They left him ; but as
they came around about ten o'clock in the evening of the same
day, to pick up the dead, they found Haynes still alive, and
brought him in. Incredible as it may appear, he lived. It was
not for him then to die. but to live, and to assist in laying the
foundation of the institutions in this town, the benefit of which you
and I have so long enjoyed.

Mr. Haynes, as we have seen, removed to this town in the
early part of March, 1785. He put up a log house a few rods
a little south of east of where the school house, in the south dis-
trict, now stands, and on the opposite side of the road from the
school htrose. The snow was then about four feet deep, but he
shovelled it away, and in a short space of time had a cabin that
he put his family into. lie did not long remain here, but moved
from thence up the hill about half a mile, to what has since and is
now known as the Haynes' farm ; that farm has been owned in the
family ever since. Mr. Haynes was never well and strong after
his wound at Bennington, yet he was able to do a good deal of
work, accumulated quite a property, frequently held town offices,
was a member of the baptist church, was chosen one of its dea-
cons, hut did not accept on account of his physical weakness. He
died in Middletown May 13th, 1813, at the age of fifty-nine;
almost thirty-six years after his terrible wound at Bennington.
His widow died October 14th, 1841, and was eighty-four years
old. Often, in the latter part of her life, we have heard her
relate her trials at Bennington — how she was frightened when she
saw that a battle must be fought; how she took her children on a
horse and fled to Fownal to get out of danger. And then the
first tidings she had was that her husband was slain, and when she
returned arid ascertained his real condition, supposed his wound
was mortal ; but she took care of him, and at the same time took

HISTORY OF M ID D LET OWN, 3Y

care of some of the Hessian wounded who were left in the hands
• of the Americans as prisoners.

Jonathan Haynes left a large family, all of whom, except Hese-
kiah, removed from Middletown many years ago. Hezekiah
Hayiies had a large family, of whom ' Six sons and two daughters
are now living. The oldest, a daughter, lives in Michigan; the
second, Aaron, is a baptist minister, and lives in Western New
York ; the second son, Alpheus, resides here, and has been a dea-
con of the baptist church since 1836 ; the third son, Arus, died
some years since. He was also a baptist minister, and stood high
in his denomination. He was for several years pastor of the bap*
tist church in Rutland. The next two sons, Bacchus and S?ylva-
nus II., are physicians. They received their diplomas as early as
1841. Bacchus is in practice at Rutland, and Sylvanus in his
native town. Jonathan, the next son, is a farmer, and resides on
the old homestead. Hezekiah, the youngest, is a mechanic, arid
resides in this village. The youngest daughter is also living here,
and is unmarried. *

Ephraim, Jacob and Philemon Wood, whose names appear on
that roll, were among the active men of the first settlers ; but we
shall reserve what we have to say of them, until we come to give
an account of the " Wood Scrape," so called, which happened
about the year 1800. The others, not mentioned, whose names
are on the roll were not long here, and very little is now known of
them ; most of them proved to be " good men and true 5> while
they remained here.

Perhaps it would not be in accordance with the taste and
judgment of good writers to occupy as much space as I shall in
biographies, bat it is one of my ways in giving you a history of
the town ; and if it is an error, it is one of judgment on my part,
but one which will not be liable to do any harm to' the present or
future generations, provided facts only are given. To me, it is a
matter of great interest to know the kind of men who cleared up
and put ander cultivation this once wilderness, and laid the
foundation of society here. I would not over estimate the
character ami worth of those men, but in my opinion it was
fortunate (if I may so say) that it was not for their grandchildren

i

38 HISTORY OF MlDDLETOWSf.

to do the work which they did. With all our advantages at this
advanced age, I honestly think we are inferior to our grandfathers-
and grandmothers, physically, morally and intellectually. The
popular opinion that they surpassed us only in their physical
strength and endurance, is a mistake. It is in their moral power
that they appear to the best advantage ; their zeal and steadfast-
ness, their unbending energy, their devotion to principle, has not
since been equalled — so I think.

I might here say that those men who came to this place soon
after the spring of 1785, were of the same stamp ; the Clarks, the
Cas wells, the Loomises, the Oatmans, Moses Leach, Russe!
Barber, and others.' of whom I shall have more or less to say
before I close.

The town early made provision for a burial ground. The first
ground used for that purpose was owned by Increase Rudd — now
owned by Mrs. Green, and lies nearly north and on the opposite
side of the stream from the " nail factory." There are appear-
ances of graves there, but no monuments.

" At a town meeting, holden July 8d, 1787, Joseph Spaulding,
moderator ; Asher Blunt, Jonathan Brewster, Gideon Miner,
Selah Hubbard and Jacob Wood, were chosen a committee to
look out a spot for a burying ground."

At an adjourned meeting, on the recommendation of that
committee, it was " Voted, To purchase an acre of ground of
Luther Filmore for that purpose." " Voted, To raise one penny
on the pound on the grand list of 1XB6, to be paid in wheat, at
four shillings per bushel, by the first of September next."

On the 30th of July, 1787, Mr. Filmore executed a deed of
the acre to the town. We give the description from Mr. Filmore's
deed, as it locates the c; old school house," the first one built in
the town :

" Beginning at the corner of the road, four rods west of the
" school house in the centre of the town at a stake and stones,
" thence running west sixteen rods, thence south ten rods to a>
" stake and stones, thence sixteen rods to a stake and stones,
" thence ten rods to first mentioned bounds.''*

Here, then, we have the time, the way and manner in which

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 33

the town procured their burial ground. In less than seventy
years, that acre, purchased and set apart for that purpose, was
almost entirely occupied with the graves of those men and of their
descendants. General Jonas Clark saw the necessity of enlarging
the ground, and on the loth day of October, 1853, he conveyed
to the town a piece of land cf an acre, or thereabouts, adjoining
the old burial ground on the west. It was about three months
before his death. He was so feeble that he could not then write
his name, but was obliged to make his mark when he executed the
deed. It was a gift to the town, with a condition that the town
should keep it fenced.

In 179.1, when the first census was taken, the population of
Middletown was six hundred and ninety-nine — nearly as many
inhabitants as there are in the town now — there were but seven
hundred and eleven by the census of 1860. Rapid progress had
been made, not only in clearing up lands and putting up buildings,
but two churches had become firmly established and prosperous ;
schools had been organized, 1 think, in every district ; roads had
been made and by the united effort of a hardy, intelligent and
industrious population, they were moving along harmoniously.

Another grist and saw mill had been erected by Nathan Record,
near where the road which runs to the " Barber place," crosses
the race way that now carries the water to Gray's mills, on land
now owned by Mrs. Anna Clark. A blacksmith's shop, and one
or two other shops had been built in the village. Mr. Fihnore
had begun to keep tavern, and John Burnam, who had moved into
this town some time during the season of 1785, at about this time
(1791) commenced building mills and dwelling houses at the
place, since known as " Burnam hollow." Mr. Burnam removed
from Shaftsbury to Middletown, and first purchased largely of
real estate m the south part of the town. His purchases included
what has been known as the " Burnam farm," now owned and
occupied by Mr. S. W. Suuthworth ; also the Whiting Merrill
farm, lying west of Mr. South worth's, and also a large tract of
land lying south- of the Merrill farm. He first put up a Log house
in what i- bow called the " upper orchard" on Mr. Southworth's
farm, the road then ran in that vicinity. The next year, (1780,)

40 * HISTORY OF MIDDLETOtnST.

he put up a frame house, the same now occupied by Mr. South-
worth ; it has since been repaired. In the year 1791, (if we are
Dot mistaken as to the time,) Mr. Burnam again made large
purchases of real estate in the west part of the town. He
commenced at once in putting up. a dwelling house, afterwards
known as the " Sam. Willard house." After that house was
completed, he left his son Jacob on his premises, in the south pars
of the town, and moved into the Willard house. He then went
extensively into building mills, also in farming, and built several
dwelling houses. He built a forge, foundry, grist and saw mills,
an oil mill, carding machine and clothier's works, and a distillery,
All of these he put into successful and active operation and carried
on here aa extensive business until 1811, when his mills were all
swept away by the freshet of that year. He afterwards rebuilt
his forge and saw mill, but he did not do a large amount of
business after this disaster in 1S11.

John Burnam was a man of uncommon ability, and of great
business capacity. For the success of the religious interests in
town, perhaps not much was du$j.o him, although he paid some-
thing for such purposes and was in the habit of attending meetings
on the Sabbath. He did not believe in the immortality of the
soul, but it must be conceeded that for the success of business
enterprises at that early day, the town were much indebted to
him.

Mr. Burnam was a lawyer, and the first one who settled in this
town. We have quoted the larger portion of a biographical
sketch of him, from Williams' statistics of the Rutland County
Bar :

4' John Burnam was born in Old Ipswich, Mas?.,, in 1742, and
iC came to Bennington the first year of its settlement, 1 701, this
" being our oldest town, lie was one of the fust settlers of the
u State. He was at the time but nineteen years old, previous to
" which time his education had been wholly neglected, having
" never, on account of indigence of his parents, received 4 but a
« ' few weeks achoolinfj^ .For his subsequent attainments, he was

wholly indebted to his exertions put forth after this time. Jn
« 1766, he removed to Shaftsbury, and located himself near

HISTORY OF A1IDDLETOWN. 41

" Squire Monroe, * a Yorker,1 who had received the appointment
" of Justice of the Peace from New York, and who, by his exer-
" tiens in behalf of that government, was a source of trouble, and
" became very obnoxious to the New Hampshire grantees. Some
" dispute arising between this Squire Monroe and Mr. B., the
" former prevailed in consequence of his presumed legal knowl-
" edge, when Mr, B. determined to inform himself on the subject
<; of law, so at least to know and understand his rights. There
" were at this time no attornies in the territory, comprising the
" State of Vermont, or nearer to it than the new city, (now
" Lansingburgh, N. Y.) Thither Mr. B. went and procured
" Black-tone's Commentaries, and one or two volumes of the N. Y.
" Colony Laws. These he so attentively studied during his leisure
" time, that he soon became familiarly acquainted with them, and
" began to put his knowledge in practice, and SuOn became fc quite
" 1 a pettifogger for his times and a new country.' He removed
" to Bennington in 1171, and engaged in the mercantile business
" and continued in it until 1779, when he returned to Shaftsbury
44 where he resided until 1785. During this time he was a
" member of the conventions of 177G and '77, which declared our
" independence of New York, formed our State constitution, &e.
« He was one of the committee who draughted the declaration of
" out independence, and existence as a separate State. He also
" represented Bennington, then our largest town, in the first
" General Assembly, or Legislature of the State. During the
« Revolutionaiy War, he was commissary of the northern army,
M and a commissioner for the sale of confiscated estates.

<4 His connection with the execution of Redding was perhaps the
t; most notorious event of his life.. Bedding had been convicted of
" ' criminal conduct ' by a jury of Mx persons, and was sentenced
" to be executed on the 14th oi June, 1778. Upon the appointed
<• day, and after a vast multitude had assembled to witness
" the execution, Mr. B. disclosed to the council that, by the
" common law of England, no man could be sentenced hut upon
" conviction by twelve of his peers, whereupon a reprieve was
k granted. This was the cause of great disappointment to the
" people who had assembled to witness the execution, to appease

42

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

*« whom, Ethan Allen mounted a stump, and exclaimed 4 Attention
" 4 the whole,' and informed them that 4 on a certain future day
" 'some one should he hung, and if Redding was not, he would be
44 4 himself.' Redding was again tried, convicted and executed."

Mr. Burnam seems to have been engaged as counsel in many of
the first cases tried in the County Court, in Bennington County,
and 44 being successful," was induced by Stephen R. Bradley and
Nathaniel Chipman to take the attorney's oath. Dr. Graham,
in his 44 Letters upon Vermont," published in 1797, thus speaks of
him : 44 Mr. Burnam, of Middletown, possesses large iron foundries
44 and forges. This gentleman was one of the practising lawyers
44 of the State, but of late years has wholly declined the profession,
44 He is a man of real abilities and great scientific knowledge."

Y\Te should add here that Mr. B. represented the town of
Middletown six years, the first time in 1783. He died in
Middletown. August 1st, A. D. 1829, aged 87. His father died
in Middletown, in 1811, at the age of 97.

John Burnam left four sons and two daughters, none of whom
are now living. Nathan, the oldest son, removed from here at an
early day. He left a family, as we are informed, who had a good
standing and influence. Jacob, the second son, remained on the
old homestead until a short time before he died. Jacob has three
children now living : Jacob, Jr., and Eveline, the widow of
Johnson Cook, both of whom now reside in Sturges, Michigan,
and Harry, who is an attorney and judge of probate, and resides
in Indiana. Of the other two sons of John Burnam, were John
the third, as he was called, who died about 1835, and Sylvester,
who died about 18G0 — both died poor ; of the two daughters, one
married Jeremiah Leffingwell, the other Samuel Willard, They
had the reputation of being worthy women, and were active
members of the Methodist denomination. Mr. Leffingwell was a
man of considerable notoriety in his time, and was engaged in a
good deal of business. One of his daughters married the late
Nathan Allen of Pawlet, who bag left a family strongly marked
with the energy and business tact of their maternal ancestors.

There were other men who came here at about the time and
soon after Mr. Burnam, who were strongly identified with the

HISTORY OF MIBDLETOWN. .43

growth and prosperity of the town, at that early day, of whom,
for my own convenience, I shall speak in the latter part of
my discourse.

At the census of 1800, we find the population of the town to be
1066, a gain of -367 in nine years ; and again we can see that
rapid progress had been made in the settlement. A village had
sprung up with about as many inhabitants, and probably more
business than it now has. John Burnam had a village of his own
in " Burnam Hollow," and the Miners were doing quite a business
in the east part of the town ; every part of the town was settled
and the farms were cleared" up and under cultivation.

About the year 1800, occurred what we have before alluded to.,
as the " Wood scrape," a term not expressive perhaps of what
is meant by it, but a name which has always been given by the
people to a strange affair in which the Wood families, then living
here, were the leading actors. It was a religious delusion, and at
the time was the cause of great excitement here, and of a good
deal of notoriety in this part of the State. That there were other
denouements besides delusion in the affair is true, but it had its
origin, I have no doubt, in a false religion of which Nathaniel
Wood was the author, and was sustained and enabled to become
what it did by delusion.

Before 1860, I had conversed with more than thirty old men
and women who were living here in 1800, and then supposed I
had obtained all the information that could be had on that subject,
the substance of which was that the Woods dug for money
in various parts of the town, and were engaged in this for nearly a
year ; that they used hazel rods which they pretended would lead
them to places where money had been buried, and that they finally
predicted that there would be an earthquake on a future day by
them named, and that when that day arrived there was great
excitement and commotion among the people, such as was never
known here before or smce.

About the year 1862, some facts new to me came into my
possession, since which time 1 have made use of all the means in
!hv power to collect all the information connected with that matter
which could possibly be obtained. On this thorough investigation,

41

HISTORY OF MIDBLET0\O*.

or at least an investigation which has taken much of my time,
I have become convinced that the narrations given me by the old
people were correct, so far as they went, and they went so far as
to include nearly all the open transactions of the Woods ; but the
origin of that affair and the results are, in my judgment, import-
ant and the facts bearing upon these I have obtained, for the
most part, since 1SG2.

The Woods were among the early settlers of the town. They
came here from Bennington, had not been there long ; they came
to this State from Nor wick, Conn. ; some of them were here as
early as 1TS2. In 1800,- they had become more numerous than any
family or families of the same or ef cue name in the town. There
were here at this time : Nathaniel Wood, Nathaniel Wood, Jr.,
Ephraim Wood, Jacob Wood, Ebenezer Wood, Ebenezer Wood,
Jr., John Wood, John Wood, Jr., Philemon Wood, Lewis Wood,
David Wood and Moselcy Wood.

Nathaniel Wood, "the old man of all," as he was called, was
the father of Nathaniel Wood, Jr., and of Jacob and Ephraim
Wood. Nathaniel Wood was a preacher. After the Congrega-
tional Church was organized, he offered himself to them as their
minister, but Deacon Jonathan Brewster, having known him
in Connecticut, opposed it. Wood persisted for a considerable
lengdi of time in his efforts to become their pastor, but Deacon
Brewster determinedly opposed it and succeeded in carrying the
church with him ; but either to gratify some of Mr. Wood's friends
in the church, or to appease him, they passed a vote in which they
recognized him as a leader " in the church. He was a member
of the church, as would appear from the records, although hs
never signed the articles, as did others of that time. ' The records
of that church show that for four or five years, commencing in
1781, there was an almost uninterrupted controversy going on
between Mr. Wood and the church, or between him and some one
or more of its members. In 1780, the church passed the
following:

14 That Joseph Spaulding, Leu is Wood and Increase Kudd, be
" a committee to confer with Mr. Nathaniel Wood, and teli him
« his fault, viz : of saying one thing and doing contrary, and

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 45

" persisting in contention, and saying in convention that he wished
" for a council ; and when the church, by their committee,
" proposed to have a council to settle the whole matter, he utterly
<< refused."

He seemed to have treated this action of the church with con-
tempt, and in October, 1780, the church excommunicated him.
It does not appear from the records of the church, that there was
any controversy between him and them upon doctrines, but the
disputes arose mostly from his charges against members, and
against the church, in which he claimed that injustice had been
done to him in their action on several occasions. He was a very
junbUious man, fond of contention, and had an indomitable will
that could not endure defeat ; a man of great mental power, and,
allowing me to judge from information I have obtained, was as dis-
honest and unscrupulous in matters of religion as any modern pol-
itician has been in politics.- When he found he could not rule the
congregational church, he seemed determined to ruin it. lie was
a formidable antagonist ; but with such men as Jonathan Brews-
ter, Joseph Spaulding and Gideon Miner in that church, he could
make but little progress in that direction.

After Mr. Wood was excluded from the church, he set up meet-
ings of his own, and preached to those who came to hear him, and
succeeded, after awhile, in getting quite a congregation, consisting
of his own family and family connections, and some others. He
held his meetings mostly at the dwelling houses of tils sons. Ills
religious doctrines, whatever they might have been while 'in the
congregational church, appeared to Be far from orthodox after his
independent organization, if organization it was. lie professed to
believe in supernatural agencies, and dwelt very much in his
preaching on the judgments of God, which he claimed would visit
the people by the special acts of Providence, as did the destruc-
tion of Sodom and Gomorrah and the plagues of Egypt. The
judgments of God were his favorite themes. At first his own fam-
ily did not appear to adopt his new doctrines ; but such was his
tenacity and perseverance, that by the year 1800 he had drawn
them all in. uiih many others outsi ie of his family and family c ou-
nce duns, so that he had at this time a number nearly ec|iial to

46

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

either of the other denominations in town. His peculiar religious
doctrines will appear as we proceed. Suffice it to say, for the
present, that he regarded himself and his followers as modern
Israelites or Jews, under the special care of Providence ; that the
Almighty would not only specially interpose in their behalf, but
would visit their enemies, the Gentiles (all outsiders), with his
wrath and vengeance.

In this condition we find Nathaniel Wood and his followers when
the hazel rod was introduced, and the money digging commenced;
but the Woods did not commence it, that honor belongs to a man
of another name ; but they were in a condition to adopt this man's
rod notion?, which they did with great effect in their work of
deluding the people.

A man by the name of Winchell, as ho called himself when he
came here, was the first man who used the hazel rod. From what
we have learned of him, he was, undoubtedly, an expert villain,
lie sought to accomplish his purposes by working upon the. hopes
and fears of individuals, and by a kind of sorcery, which he per-
formed with great skill. The time lie came here I cannot give,
but it was, undoubtedly, sometime in the year 1799. He was a
fugitive from justice from Orange county, Vermont, where he had
been engaged in counterfeiting. He first went to a Mr. Cow-
dry's, in Wells, who then lived in that town, near the line between
Wells and MnUletown, in the house now owned and occupied by
Robert Parks, Esq. Cowdry was the father of Oliver Cowdry,
the noted Mormon, who claimed to have been one of the witnesses
to Joe Smith's revelations, and to have written the book Mormon,
as it was deciphered by Smith from the golden plates. Winchell,
I have been told, was a friend and acquaintance of Cowdry's, but
of this I cannot be positive, they were intimate afterwards ; but
Winchell staid at Cowdry's some little time, keeping himself con-
cealed, and it is the opinion of some with whom I have conversed
that he commenced his operations of digging for money. in Wells,
but I have been unable to determine as to that It is well known
that there was a good deal of money digging in that part of Wells.
Whether it commenced at the time spoken of, when Winchell went
there, or afterwards, is, to my mind, unsettled.

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 47

Winchell next turns up in Middletown, at Ezekiel Perry's, in
the fall or forepart of the winter of 1799. Perry lived at the
extreme south part of the town, on the road to Pawlet. Here he
staid all winter, keeping himself from the public eye, practicing
his arts of deception as he had opportunity to do so, without
attracting too much attention ; and here he began to use the hazel
rod (whether he had before used it at Cowdry's, in Wells, I can-
not say). He would tell fortunes, and do other wondrous things
with it. In the spring of 1800, feeling, perhaps, a little more
secure from those who desired to find him and bring him to justice,
he gathered quite a number about him from the immediate neigh-
borhood, and told them there was money buried in that region,
and with his rod he could find it; and told them if they would
assist in digging it out, and forever keep it a secret, he would give
them a part of the money. This they agreed to, and were all
eager to commence digging.

Before we go any further, we should, perhaps, say a word about
this rod, which played such a part in Middletown in this eventful
year. The best description we can give of it is this : It was a
stick of what has been known as witch hazel — a small bush or
shrub very common in this vicinity. It was cut with two prongs, in
the form of a fork, and the person using it would take the two prongs,
one in each hand, and the other end from the body. From the
use of this slick Winchell and the Woods pretended to divine all
sorts of thing3 to suit their purposes. It is probably true that a
hazel stick, or perhaps any green stick, cut in this form, and held
in this manner by some persons, will sometimes move without any
apparent cause. There is some natural cause for it. Whether it
is attracted by water or mineral substances in the earth, or moved
by the imagination of the person holding it, is a matter for the
philosopher, not for me. This much is quite certain, it was then a
very effectual implement with which to practice deception.

After Winchell had made his proposals to those whom he gath-
ered about him, and they had been accepted, he had recourse to
his rod to determine whether they were sincere in their promises
to keep the money digging a secret. The rod, as he pretended,
told him they were, and then he sallied out; went on to the hill

4S HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

east of Perry's house, holding his rod before him in the maimer
indicated, his dupes following after. On the hill, a little south of
east of the upper Wait house, on the Tinmouth side of the line,
his rod fell or made some motion, which told him, as he said, that
they had reached the spot where the precious metal was buried.
The men, with Vvinchell, immediately prepared themselves with
shovels and other implements, and under the direction of Win-
chell commenced digging. They worked hard for two or three
days, and becoming weary, their enthusiasm began to cool, and
they began to show signs of giving out. Winchell held up his
rod, got some motion frozn it, and told them the money was in an
iron chest and covered with a large stone, and that they would
soon come to it. This had the effect to renew their energies, and
soon they did come to a stone or a rock, and were at once wild
with excitement. Winchell then again consulted his rod, and
told his men they must wait awhile before removing the stone cr
taking out the chest of money. It was now two or three o'clock
in the afternoon, and this evil man, the better to accomplish his
purposes, kept his dupes away from the place until nearly sun-
down, when they were then provided with levers, handspikes and
bars to remove the stone. Winehell once more astonished them
with the motions of his rod, and told them if they obeyed his
instructions, they would, in a few moments, be in possession of
lar<re sums of money. lie impressed it upon them, that the occa-
sion was one of " awful moment,*' that there was a "divinity"
guarding the treasure, and that if there was any lack of faith in
any one of the party, or any should utter a word while removing
the stone and taking out the chest, that this divinity would put
the money forever beyond their reach, and besides he could not
be answerable for consequences. Believing every word this vile
man said to them, you can imagine, better than I can describe, the
appearance and feelings of those men as they were prying and
lifting away for two long bonis at a stone so large that it was
impossible for them to remove from its bed. The spell was broken
at last. Some one of the rurt v stepped on the foot of another,
the hitter crvimr out in pain, " Get off from my toes." Winehell
then exclaimed with a km 1 voice, " The money is gone, flee for

1

HISTORY OP MIDDLETOWN. 49

your lives!" Every man of the party dropped his bar or lever,
and ran as though it was for life. Thus ended the digging for
money at this place. Winehell managed to get what little change
these men had while they were digging, probably under the expec-
tation, on their part, that they all would soon have money enough.

Soon after this affair Winehell made the acquaintance of the
Woods, who, according to our theory, were then ripe for just such
a scheme. As an old man told me, who lived here at the time,
and professed to know all about it, " They (the Woods) swallowed
Winehell, rod and all." I may as well give that old man's name,
it was -Jabez D. Perry, who died in Middletown in the fall of
1863. Perry gave me this account of Winehell, which I have
written out and now read to you, in 1862 ; also, more of him
which I shall read as I come to it. It being then new to me, I
must say that I doubted its truth ; but in my researches since that
time, I have found evidence, the most of it from living witnesses,
to sustain Mr. Perry in every particular, except Winchell's man-
agement in the digging as above given — and I might well say that
he is sustained in that, for it was all the same, or of similar char-
acter in the money digging which followed, and was kept up until
the next winter ; the same romance attended it, the same imposi-
tion was practiced, and there was the same claim to a supernatural
agency. The older portion of my audience will agree with me in
this, as we heard it from our fathers and mothers, until it became
familiar with us.

As I have said, Winehell made the acquaintance of the Woods ;
and they then commenced using the hazel rod and digging for
money, which was in the spring or early in the summer of 1800,
and continued in this until late in the fall, and some have said
until into the winter. "Winehell was with them, but it was not
generally known, he being concealed — the Woods were the osten-
sible managers. They did not handle the pick and shovel very
much in the digging ; that part of the work was mostly done by
those who were drown into it by the Woods. A man by the name
of Prate did a good deal of the digging ; he then lived on what
has since been known as the Barber farm, and either at that time
or before, owned it. But the Woods superintended the work, and
4

50

HISTORY OF MTDDLETOWN.

were the men who handled the rod for the most part in those
operations. Jacob Wood, known as Capt. Wood, one of the sons of
Nathaniel, was the leader in the use of the rod. " Priest Wood,"
his father, seemed to throw his whole soul into the rod delusion,
but Ids use of the rod was mostly as a medium of revelation. It
was "St John's rod " he said, and undoubtedly was very conve-
nient for him, as he was much more fruitful in his prophecies than
before — but Capt. Jacob was the man to find where the money
was buried, arid to use the rod at their public meetings, and on
other occasions, though all the Woods and their followers, had
each a rod, which was used whenever they desired any information.
If any one was sick, they sought the rod to know whether - they
would live or die, and to know what medicine to administer to
them. In all their business matters, they followed, as they said,
the direction of the rod, and with it they could, as they pretended,
divine the thoughts and intentions of men.

The greatest part of their digging for money was on the Barber
farm, and on the Zenas Frisbie farm, then owned by Ephraim
Wood, though they dug in many other places in town. On the
Frisbie farm, the farm on which I was born and raised, there are
seven or eight places which still bear the marks of their digging.
At one place in the " notch,1' it has been said they dug to the
depth of seventy feet, and from the appearances about the place,
I should judge they might have gone to that depth. They were
led to these places, or pretended to be, by the rods. Many of the
old people have told me, that almost every day during that season,
Capt. Wood, or some other one, could be seen with the two prongs
of the rod twisted around his hamU, in search for buried treasures.
Whether they were digging for and expected to find coin or ore,
has often been asked of me. They talked the most. about money,
which they said had been buried in this region, which would mean
coin of course, but my opinion is, that they had become so deluded
that they had no distinct idea as to wbether they were in pursuit
of "'•11 and silver in coin or in its natural state, but let this be
understood as an opinion^ Many not familiar with the facts, have
supposed, and have said to rue, that they were under the impres-
sion that the Woods acted upon the theory that those hazel rods

IIISTOHY OF MIDDLETOWN. 51

may be attracted by metalic substances in the earth, and hence
their motion or working ; but they had no such theory as that ;
there was no show of reason in the affair from beginning to end,
their idea was, that it teas revelation, that it was made known to
them through the medium of St. John's rod, and would be revealed
to none others but God's chosen people. Nathaniel Wood's Jewish
theory, (if I may so call it,) ran through the whole thing from
first to last.

Many ludicrous stories which might be amusing; to some, could
be given, as related by the Woods and others, while they were
digging. They dug some time in a cellar on the Barber farm ;
there they came to a stone, and under it was the chest of money
as they said, 'i hey run their bars down, and they would, strike
the chest ; then they would dig awhile— run clown their bars
again, and it would not be there. This would be repeated — some-
times the chest would be there, and then it would not. Once they
raised it up and were on the point of taking it out, when their
efforts became powerless, the chest would come no further. They
then laid a Bible upon it, and went after some one to come and
pray over it, but when they returned, the Bible and chest of
money were both gone. This result they said was owing to the
wickedness or want of faith of some one or more of the party.
But this is enough of that kind in connection with WmchcU's
performances at the first digging for my purpose or yours. There
is a good deal more of the same, but it is needless to spend any
more time with it.

The rods-men, (such they were called,) became so infatuated
as to give up nearly their whole time to this scheme. All the
believers became wild fanatics. Besides those in Middletown in
this movement, there were several families in the south-east part
of Poultney, now known as the Ciddings neighborhood ; also
several families in the north-east part of Wells, in the vicinity of
the Giddings neighborhood. These were also digging for money,
and were known as belonging to the rod-men.

Some facts may be given to show the delusion of those persons
in this movement. Two young ladies in Middletown, whose fami-
lies belonged to the rods-men, ladies who had hitherto sustained a

I

52 HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

good moral character, liad it revealed to them by the rods (as
they thought,) that the devil was in their clothing, and by direc-
tion of the rod, their clothing was taken off, and they, in a winter
night, went across the mountain into that part of Poultney above
named.

In this same neighborhood in Poultney, a young lady by the
name of Ann Bishop, mysteriously disappeared ; no one could give
any clue to her whereabouts. The Woods were sent for, and
came. It became known, and large numbers had collected, it
being on the sabbath day, from Poultney, Middle town and Yfells,
The rod was brought into requisition, and pointed to a certain
glace in Well's pond, which runs up into the south part of Poultney,
The conclusion was that the lady was drowned in that place, and
the next thing done was a preparation to get the body. Ropes,
chains and hooks were procured, and logs were drawn up, a horse-
blanket and some other matter, but no human body. She was
drowned there, the rods-men said, they were sure of that. She
afterwards made her appearance.

The Woods at one time hod it revealed to them, that they must
build a temple. They got out the timber for the frame-, got it
raised up to the rafters, when they had another revelation that
that work must be discontinued, and nothing more was done on
the temple. From the time the Woods began to use the rod and
dig for money, which we have seen was in the spring or early
summer of 1^00, they and their followers were every day becom-
ine/ more heated in their zeal, and by the December following, it
become evident that a crisis would soon be reached. " Priest
Wood M was becoming so loud and vehement and so frenzied in his
favorite theme of God's judgments upon the wicked Gentiles, that
it was not difficult to perceive that a paroxysm and collapse were
near at hand. It was revealed to them, as they said, that on a
certain night there would be an earthquake — that immediately
pri<.r t<i the earthquake the "destroyer" would pass through the
land ami slav a portion of the unbelievers, and the earthquake
would complete tin.* destruction oi them and their worldly posses-
sions. The day on whieh they predicted that this would occur,
was the 11th day of January, A. D. 1801. This I have deter-

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 53

rained from a letter which I have received from an old gentleman
who was present on the occasion, and which will be read to you.

When the day arrived for the earthquake, the Woods and their
friends all collected at the house of Nathaniel Wood, Jr., who
then lived on what has been known as the Micah Vail farm, which
is now owned and occupied by Crockee Clift, and as they left their
own houses, prepared them for the earthquake by putting their
crockery on the floors, and wrote on each of their door-posts :
" Jesus our passover was sacrificed for us." The rods-men, or
those who handled the rods, among whom Capt. Wood was chief,
were at Nathaniel Jr.'s house early in the day. One of their
duties on this occasion was to determine who were and who were
not to be saved from the approaching destruction or " plague,"
as they called it, and to admit such into the house, and those
only, who were to be spared. The occasion was with them the
Passover, and how they kept it will pretty fully appear from the
letter above alluded to.

Up to the evening of this day, the people of the town had looked
unconcerned upon this folly of the Woods, but now they became
suddenly aroused, and many were very much alarmed. They
feared some evil might befall some of the inhabitants during the
night. They (the Gentiles,) had no belief in the Wood's predic-
tions, but feared that they or some of their followers would them-
selves turn 4: destroying angels" and kill some of the inhabitants,
or get up an artificial earthquake by the use of powder, which
would result in injury to persons or property. Capt. Joel Miner
was commander-in-chief of the militia in town, and hastily collected
his company. Capt. Miner was a very energetic, as well as a very
earnest man, and I should judge from all accounts, was at this time
very much alarmed for the safety of the inhabitants. General
Jonas Clark was at the time one of his subordinate officers, and
was teaching a singing school which had assembled at the house of
Mr. Filmore. Capt. Miner came in much excited, reprimanded
him for his indifference in the matter, and ordered him to duty,
lie left his sinking school at once, and took his place in the militia.
The General was not in the habit of neglecting his duty, but he
was a philosopher, and it is probable that he " didn't think there

54 HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN'.

would be much of a shower." Capt. Miner stationed his company
as sentinels and patrols in different parts of the town, with direc-
tions to allow no person to pass them unless a satisfactory account
of themselves could be given, and especially to have an eye out
for the " destroying angels." The town had a quantity of powder,
balls and flints, as the law then required ; these were kept in the
Congregational meeting house in a sort of cupboard under the
pulpit. From this the militia were supplied with the requisite
ammunition, and Jonathan Morgan was left here to guard the
military stores. There was no sleep that night among the inhab-
itants ; fear, consternation, great excitement and martial law pre-
vaile throughout the night — but the morning came without any
earthquake, or any injury done to any of the inhabitants or their
property, except Jacob Wood's crockery was broken up in his
house, where he left it on the floor. A journeyman hatter in the
employ of Dyar Leffingwell said he thought " the earthquake
hadn't ought to go for nothing," and went into the house, (it was
where Lucius Copeland, Esq., now lives,) in Capt. Wood's absence
to attend the Passover, and broke up and destroyed his crockery.
That was the extent of the mischief so far as the destruction of
property was concerned- and no individual received airy bodily
harm. The militia were dismissed in the morning and went to
their homes.

I shall now introduce the letter to which I have alluded. It is
from Rev. Laban Clark, I). J)., a man over ninety years old, as I
am informed, who resides in Middlctown, Connecticut, and is still
in a good degree in the enjoyment of his faculties. Mr. Clark
was with the Woods on the eventful night.

£i In the year 1801, I traveled in the north part of Vermont,
and in Lower Canada. I met at that time a man who told won-
derful stories of finding St. John's rod, and the strange things it
accomplished. November 1st, 1801, I went to Brandon circuit,
which then included all of Rutland County. I heard on arriving
there, much talk of the rod-men. People were saying that certain
persons were directed by rods to certain plants and roots that they
used to cure diseases, in many cases which they thought almost
miraculous. In December I went to Poultney for my first

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 55

appointment there ; and was informed that two young women had
been following the rods in a severe cold and dark night over places
where men could scarcely go by day-light. I went thence to
Mid die town, where I preached in the house of Mr. Done, the only
Methodist family in the place. After the close of the services
the people began to inquire of Mr. D. about the u girls tramp;15
and I learned that his daughter was one of the voting women
above mentioned. When I could see Mr. D. alone, I conversed
with him upon the subject. Lie told me that many people in
America were, unknown to themselves, Jews, and these divining
rods would designate who they were. I asked him to let me see
one of the rods. After some hesitation, he did so, I asked him
to learn by it whether I were a Jew. The rod immediately
pointed towards me. I said then, "If that is true, please tell me
to what tribe I belong ?" lie tried several different tribes, hut
there was no motion ot the rod. I then said, " I think I belong
to the tribe of Joseph.*' At once the rod pointed towards me ;
thus proving to my satisfaction that it was moved bv the ima^ina-
tion of the person who held it. I felt anxious for the result of all
this, but said little.

" At my next appointment in Poulfcney, Bro. Pone met me
there. He looked so very dejected I feared he had come' for me
to attend some funeral service for a. friend. I asked for his family,
and for the cause of his sorrow. 44 O," said he, 14 the judgments
of God are abroad." lie then said they had determined to spend
the next day as a day of fasting and prayer, and he desired me to
go and he with them. Accordingly, accompanied by Mr. Yates
and Esquire Wells, I went. When we arrived old Priest Wood
was lecturing, on the words, 44 Thy judgments are made manifest,^
Rev. JL5;4. When he closed I announced my appointment to
preach at Mr* Dene's that evening. I was asked to change the
place to the one we were now in, as seats were there all ready.
I consented, f went to Mr. D/s to tea and found a great ileal of
secret manoeuvring going on. To give them all free lorn I went
to the barn for a time. On my ruurn, I found posted on the
door, 44 Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us." 1 said nothing,
but went to my meeting. After preaching, several persons com-

56

HISTORY OP MIDDLETOWtf.

menced holding up rods, and running from one end of the room to
the other. 1 prepared to leave, when Bro. D. came to me much
agitated, and expressed sorrow that I could not stay at his house
that night, " Where will I go V9 I said. He replied, " O. you
will fare as well as the rest of us." So I sat down. We were
soon ordered to go to the house fixed up for the occasion — a school
room where they had made a large fire. They all came in much
agitated, many weeping. I found they were expecting there was
to he an earthquake. I conversed with several respecting those
that had the rods. They professed to have been converted, but
all the evidence I could gain of the fact was that the rods would
work in their hands. We sat there till morning light. As morn-
ing dawned they went out and 'looking upward, kept working the
rods. At last the old minister said : 44 0, I told them I thought
it would not be until to-morrow night." Soon after light I went
to Bro. Done's and asked to take a nap. On passing through the
parlor I found all the crockery setting in the middle of the floor.
After sleeping, I was taking my breakfast, when two men came in
and said they had found out the whole mistake. They had
thought because the rods had directed them to have all their goods
packed up, that there was to be an earthquake. But this was the
14th day of the first month, (it was the 14th of Jan.,) and on the
14th day of the first month the children of Israel were directed
to keep the Passover with shoes and hats on. So they were
directed now to keep that day until they were prepared to go into
the New Jerusalem. I made no remark, but concluded they had
now something to work on to deceive the people.

" After eight weeks I had another appointment to preach in
the same pdace. When I inquired of Bro. Done respecting the
rods. He seemed perfectly honest and sincere, but all in earnest
and perfectly duped. He told me the rods were able invisibly to
remove gold and silver. He said they had found that there was a
vast quantity of it in the earth, and the rods could collect it to
one place. They were now doing the work and expected to get
enough to pave the streets of the New Jerusalem. I asked if the
gold came in its native state or in currency. He said in loth. I
then asked him if they had any person who understood refining

|

I

niSTOKY OF MTDDLETOWN.

57

gold ? He said they had one who understood it perfectly well.
" Where is he," I said. " He keeps himself secreted in the
woods," he replied. I asked his name, and he told me it was
Wingate. I remembered at once ; it was the name of a man who
was detected about two years before in Bradford, Vt., in milling
counterfeit dollars. My father having been selectman of the town
at the time, I had known the case well. After some reflection, I
said to Bro. Done " I fear there is counterfeiting going on, and if
you are hot careful I fear you will be drawn into it and your
reputation and your family ruined." He was alarmed. I said
" I think I can tell you how to escape. If my fears are correct,
they will call on you for sum'-' of money, and will want it in specie."
He replied they had already done so. I advised him then to put
away his rod and quit them, or he was a ruined man. Four weeks
after that, when I returned, he told me he had not seen his rod
since I left. I asked him to burn it. He replied his wife knew
where it was, and left the room. She brought it and I burned it.

" I ascertained afterwards that the eldest son of Priest Wood,
called Capt. Wood, was the principal religious mover in sight
while Wingate kept concealed. Wood was Wmgate's outside
agent, and got up the religious excitement to aid the scheme "

The foregoing was penned by a friend for Mr. Clark, as will
appear from the following, which accompanied the same in Mr.
Clark's own hand.

" Mijjdletowx, Conn., Jan'y 30, 18GT.
« Dear Sir : — My hand is so paralized that it is difficult for mc
to write. I do not find the manuscript of the notice published,
but have related some of the facts by the hand of a friend. I
never resided in the town of Micldletown in Vermont, but traveling
on a circuit preached there once a month for about six months. I
had no acquaintance with the Woods other than holding the Pass-
over with them the 14th of January, 1801. By what l learned
of them, I have no doubt that their movement gave origin to the
Mormons, the vilest schme of villainy and corruption that has
ever cursed the country.

Yours, respect f u 1 ly ,

Laban Clark."

58 HISTORY OF MIDDL2T0W2T.

Mr. Clark says, " I ascertained afterwards that the eldest son
of Priest Wood, called Capt Wood,- was the princial religious
mover in sight, while Wingate kept concealed. Wood was Win-
gate's outside agent, and got up the religious excitement to aid the
scheme." This Wingate and Winchell the name given me by
Perry and others, are beyond question, one and the same person.
What we get from Mr. Clark's letter, so far as it goes, of Wingate
is the same I obtained from Perry of Winchell in 1862 — that is,
that he was detected in counterfeiting, in Bradford, Vt.,came here
and was with the Woods in their movement, and kept himself com
coaled in the time. Periy told me that he changed his name
after fee came, to avoid discovery by the officers of justice.
Whether he did or not, I cannot be positive, but it is established
beyond controversy, that a man came, first to Wells, then to
Middle town, introduced the hazel roc], and afterwards acted a part
with the Woods which we have indicated ; and that Winchell, as
given me by Perry, and Wingate the name in Mr Clark's letter,
both mean that man.

Now was this wild and mysterious affair a movement to cover
up a counterfeiting scheme ? Such has been the opinion of nearly
ail with whom I have conversed on that subject. The old folks
who were here at the time, were very decidedly of that opinion.
I. never got the name of Winchell (so I shall continue to call him,)
from any one until I got it from Perry, but many of them have
said to me that the Woods had a man with them who understood
counterfeiting, and they had no doubt about his being engaged
with them in that business. I never have got hold of any evi-
dence of counterfeiting in that affhir, other than the facts 1 am
giving you, except this : a large oven was afterwards discovered
in an out of the way place, on the premises of one of the Wdods,
which bore marks of use for other purposes than baking bread.
But it is quite probable, in my opinion, that counterfeiting was
..• ,hw on — that was Winehell's trade ; he was an old hand at the
business — it was money that he was after, that was his end and
aim in this affair. Was that the purpose of the Woods 1 Upon
this question I find myself to differ from almost all others, includ-
ing those who were here at the time, and doubtless more cempe-

HISTORY OF MIDjDLETOWN. 59

tent to judge of it than I am. That the Woods were in intimate
and dose connection with Winchell in his concealment, there is no
doubt, and if he was counterfeiting they must have known it ; but
it has always seemed to me as though they were actuated and
borne on in that strange movement by their religious zeal.
Nathaniel Wood had been excluded from the congregational church
some twelve years before, and had gotten up a new system of
religious doctrine, and seemed determined that they should pre-
vail at all events. The use of the rod was not the beginning of
it, but by the use of the rod many converts were added, and the
zeal of all greatly increased and continued to increase until it
amounted to distraction. The conduct of those men does not
seem to me like deliberate plotting and planning, hut more as
though they were carried along by an irresistible current of fanati-
cism : but this is an opinion, not history.

That Winched 1 availed himself of this " outside " movement to
cover up and aid his nefarious schemes, is very likely. He was
cool and deliberate — he " could raise the wind and not be carried
along with it," and turn the effects of it to his own advantage.

In the Wood families, and especially in Nathaniel Wood's
family, were some of the best min is the town ever had. Jacob
Wood, the oldest son of Nathaniel, was elected one of the select-
men of the town at the first meeting after the town was organized,
and almost constantly held some town office after that. He was
more like his father than his othor sons — more inclined to be a
religious agitator. Ephraim, the second so.i, was elected consta-
ble at the first annual meeting, and had several successive elec-
tions to that office. He and his brother, Nathaniel Jr., at first
tacitly assented to their fathers religious notions, but after the rod
delusion commenced, they were drawn into it, though they never
took a leading part as their brother Jacob did. Nathaniel Wood,
Jr., was undoubtedly the superior of all the Woods in point of
ability and culture. He represented Middletown in the legislature
five or six years in succession; was for a long time the active
justice of the peace here ; was town clerk several years, and held
other offices. He was the father of Reuben Wood, who studied
law with Gen. Jonas Clark, went to Cleveland, Ohio, about the

i

60

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

year 1817, got into an extensive practice there — was made a
judge of the supreme court of that state, which position he held
for seventeen years, and a portion of that time was chief justice,
lie had the reputation of being one of the best jurists in the
United States. He was afterwards made governor of Ohio, which
office he held, I think, four years.

Perhaps I ought to say. this of the Woods, excepting Priest
"Wood, that up to the time this rod imposition commenced, no act
of their lives has ever been mentioned in my hearing inconsistent
with honesty, industry and good citizenship — hut so much the
more mysterious and unaccountable, their disgraceful conduct in
the " rod scrape." The Wood families removed from Middle-
town as soon as they could conveniently after the failure of their
earthquake enterprise ; they went to Ellisburg, N. Y., and it has
been said, that ever after, they and their descendants have
demeaned themselves as good citizens.

In connection with this Wood affair, I have one thing more to
consider, which is perhaps more important as a matter of history
than anything else connected with it.

Mr. Clark in .his letter says : " By what I have heard of them,
(the Woods,) I have no doubt that the movement gave origin to
the Mormons." This opinion of Mr. Clark, I have no doubt will
be received by you as a surprise, as it would be to the people
generally, both in and out of Middletown. Bat Mr. Clark is not
the only man who has given the same opinion. I first got it from
Jabez D. Perry, in 1862: It was a surprise to me then, and I
examined and cross-examined him for hours together, to get all the
facts I could bearing upon that point — since which time I have
found others, intelligent men, of the same opinion. After receiv-
ing the foregoing letter from Mr. Clark. I wrote him again asking
him for the facts to sustain his opinion. In reply, he refers me to
a work written by Dr. Kidder of Chicago, Illinois, which I have
obtained, but says that about 1840 he heard two .Mormon preachers
in Connecticut, who held to the "same or much the same doctrines
which the Woods did in Middletown." In this he is undoubtedly
correct. I have no desire to give Middletown the honor of being
the birth-place of Mormonisin, but I do desire to bring out facts,

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. CI

and if from those facts Mormobism may be traced back to this
place, as a matter of history, and of curiosity, the people here,
and throughout the country should know it.

That the system of religion promulgated by Nathaniel Wood,
and adopted by his followers in 1800, was the same, or " much
the same," as the Mormons adopted on the start, is beyond ques-
tion. It was claimed by the Mormons, so says a writer of their
history, " that pristine Christianity was to be restored, with the
gift of prophecy, the gift of tongues — with power to heal all
manner of diseases — that the fulness of the gospel was to be
brought forth by the power of God, and the seed of Isarel were
to be brought into the fold, and that the gospel' .vould be carried
to the Gentiles, many of whom were to receive it." These were
the doctrines of the Woods, as may be inferred from what appears
in the foregoing. The Woods were very fruitful in prophecies,
especially after the hazel rod came to their use ; so were the
Mormons in the beginning of their creed, and both the Woods and
the Mormons claimed to have revelations, and sought for them
and received them, as they pretended not only in matters of
religion, but in matters of business. They pretended to be gov-
erned by the Li vine will as revealed to them on the occasion.

The question now arrises, how came the Mormons by these reli-
gious doctrines of the Woods? Was it a mere accident, that the
Mormons afterwards got up a system like that concocted by
Nathaniel Wood, years before, as the Wood affair collapsed in
1801 or 1802, two or three years before Joe Smith was born, and
they (the Woods,) and their followers were at once scattered in
various parts of the country, and Mormonism did not appear to the
world, until about 1830. It might have been purely accidental,
but it seems to me hardly probable.

Now then, if this system of religion inaugurated by the Woods
was transmitted to the Mormons, what is the evidence. I will
give all the evidence I have been able to procure on that subject,
and it is for you to weigh, and give to it such effect as it is
entitled to.

In the first place, their religious theories being the same, would
have have great weight, and would be almost conclusive in the

02

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

matter, unless overcome by facts and circumstances, showing the
contrary. This same Winchell or Wingate, the counterfeiter, who
introduced the rod here, and was with the Woods in their operations,
afterwards went to Palmyra, New York, the home of Joe Smith,
when lie (Smith) set on foot the Mormon scheme. What time
Winchell went to Palmyra, I am unable to say, but he was there
early enough to get Joe Smith's father to digging for money, some
years before Joe was old enough to engage in the business — -but
Joe was at it as soon as he was old enough, and if his biographers
can be relied on, he followed it until about the time he pretended
to have found the golden bible. I have been told that Joe Smith's
lather resided in Poultney at the time of the Wood movement
here, and Unit he was in it, and one of the leading rods-men. Of
this I cannot speak positively, for the want of satisfactory evidence,
but that he was a rods-man under the tuition of this counterfeiter
after he went to Palmyra has been proven, to my satisfaction, at
least. I have before said that Oliver Cowdry's father was in the
" Wood scrape.3' He then lived in Wells, afterwards in Middle-
town, after that went to Palmyra, and there we find these men
■with the counterfeiter, Winchell, searching for money over the
hills and mountains with the hazel rod, and their sons Joe and
Oliver, as soon as they were old enough, were in the same business,
and continued in it until they brought out the " vilest scheme that
ever cursed the country/'

It appears from some of the Mormon histories, that the Mor-
mon organization first consisted of the Smith family, Oliver Cow-
dry and Martin Harris, the name of the counterfeiter, whether it
was Winchell or "Wingate, does not appear in any account that I
have seen, unless he had by this time assumed another name, but
he had been at Palmyra for some years and went with them from
Palmyra to Ohio. He was not a man who could endure the gaze
of the public, but his work was done in secret ; that he was at
Palmyra, acted the part I have indicated, and went oif with the
Mormons when they left Palmyra, lias been fully proven by men
who were here during the Wood affair, and afterwards removed to
Palmyra, and knew him in both places.

What I have now said of the Smiths, Cowdry and Winchell, lias

HISTORY OF MTDDLETOWN. G3

been obtained from living witnesses, to which I will add a few
quotations from authors.

Gov. Ford of Illinois, in his history of the Mormons, says of
doe Smith, ;t That his extreme youth was spent in idle, vagabond
life, reaming in the woods, dreaming of buried treasures, and
exerting the art of finding them by twisting a forked stick in his
hands, or by looking through enchanted stones. lie and his
father before him, were what are called " water witches," always
ready to point out the ground where wells might be dug and water
found."

In a work written by Rev. Dr. Kidder of Illinois, some twenty
years ago. which is the best expose of Mot-monism and the Mor-
mons I have ever seen, he has a statement purporting to have
been signed by sixty-two credible persons, residents of Palmyra,
N, Y. JLn that statement, those men say of the Smiths, that
" they were particularly famous for visionary projects, spent much
of their time in digging for money, which they pretended was
hidden in the earth ; and to this day large excavations may be
seen in the earth not far from their then residence, where they
used to spend their time in digging for hidden treasures." In
Dr. Kidder's work, the first Mormons are frequently characterized
as "mcney diggers/' as though that had been their principal
avocation, as it doubtless was.

I have perhaps already occupied more time upon this matter
than I should, but I have thought it proper and important too, to
give what evidence I have been able to obtain, to show that the
Wood movement here " gave origin to the Mormons." I am fully
convinced that the Rev. Mr. Clark has good grounds for that
opinion. It is not claimed that any of the Woods who were here
in 1800, or their descendants ever had anything to do with Mor-
monism after it was known to the world as such, but their religion
and their ways of deceiving the people by pretended revelations
and otherwise, were brought along down by the Smiths, the Cow-
dry s, and the counterfeiter. They used the rod, that is, the elder
Smith and Cowdry, and pretended by that to obtain revalations,
from the time the Wood affair exploded here, and their sons Joe
Jr. and Oliver, the most successful impostors of m&&&Wk times,

64

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

commenced their education with the use of the hazel rod or forked
stick, in searching for hidden treasures — though afterwards used
what they called enchanted stones. I ask no one to accept my
opinion or that of any other person in this matter as the truth,
but must say, that it is my honest belief that this Wood movement
here in Middletown was one source, if not the main source, from
which came this monster — Mormonism.

In 1801 there was again put on the records of the town " a roll
of the freemen of Middletown." This I have copied as it may be

desirable to know w

10 were then here ; i

t contains the following

names i

ILpuraiin »\ oocl,

ira-maiiel \\ aklo,

Reuben Loorais,

John bunaemn,

James Met lure.

Joseph Chub,

JJaniel tiaskms,

Jrnmeas dough,

Joseph Bateman,

bam 1 Dunclerini,

JN atlian \\ alton,

T 1 T"> XT'

John Jburnani, iisc{.,

»j acou v\ oocl,

Silas Mailary,

VV illxam Downey,

Jonathan Brewster,

Nathan Colgrove,

Jon a . La vis o n ;

isenj. IlasKins,

James Smith,

cam l i racy,

Jonathan ilaynes,

Ashur .blunt,

Jonas Clark,

Increase Kudd,

Luther Filmore, ^

JNatnan Loigrove, Jr.,

Edmund Bigelow,Esq

,iNatnan ijora,

AT, T r* ,»1

Moses lieacn,

Thomas Morgan,

Fph. Carr,

uyar Aiat&on,

Jonathan Jbnsbie*

Jttuius Clark,

Gideon Miner, Jr.,

Jbenj. L/Oy,

X>dl Uk £VUUU.,

] AC So 1 0 I f 1 i T* <T 1 1 '

Timothy Smith,

Nathaniel Wood,

Caleb White,

Francis Perkins,

Nathaniel Wood, Jr

, B uss el Barber,

Samuel Stoddard,

Nehemiah Hazen,

Amasa Mehurin,

Benj. Butler,

Enos Clark,

Abel Hubbard,

Nathan Record,

Theophilus Clark,

Ezra Chirk,

Jonathan Mehurin,

Solomon Rockwell,

A u g u 3 1 u s F r Lsbie,

Richard Ilaskins,

Orson Brewster,

Johnson Rudd,

Joseph Rockwell,

Lewis Miner,

Eh. Wood,

Jesse Hubbard,

Edward Corbin,

Eb. Bateman,

Gideon Miner,

Thomas Davison,

Fitch Loomis,

WMm Frisbie,

Eela Caswell,

John Burnam, 3d,

Azor Berry,

Stephen Richardson,

Mosley Wood,

Thomas French,

Joel Frisbie,

Alexander Murray,

HISTORY OF MIBDLETOWN.

65

Gideon Buel,
Jonath a n Griswold ,
David Griswold,

Levi Skinner,
Wait Rathbon,

Joel Miner,
Jacob Burn-am j
Roswell Clark,
David Tracy,
A nsel Shepardson,

Jac. Harrington,
Calvin Go! grove,
Ambrose Record,
Sam'I Northrop,
Obadiab Williams

The foregoing list does not contain the names of all the males
over hventy-one years of age in the town in 1801 . Joseph
Spank! ing. Asa Gardner, Jonas Clark, Jr., Zenas Friable, Phile-
mon Frisbie, Elisha "Clark, George and Eli Oatman, and a few
others, were then inhabitants of the town, and over twenty-one
years of age. There may have been other names omitted, or it
may hare been a list of those who voted at the election thai year ;
but the list may he valuable for reference, as it doubtless contains
the names of nearly all the freemen then here.

Some of the persons, whose names are on that roll, were child-
ren of the first settlers, and came here with their fathers, and
many others came here soon after the town was organized, and
after the first roll, before given, was made and recorded. Among'
the latter was Joel Frisbie, a brother of William and Jonathan
Frisbie, who came here in 1783. He bought out Francis Perkins,
the place now known a3 the Lewis place, (where John Lewis now
lives.) and lived there until he died, which was about the year
1811* Juei Frisbie, as I have been informed by those who knew
him, was a man of good character, good common sense, and a val-
uable member of the congregational church. He had a family of
six children. Two sons and a daughter died young. His third
son. Palmer, removed to Lysander, Onandaga County, New York,
about 1820, where he lived until he died, some four or five years
ago, at the age of seventy-eight. He left three children — one
son and two daughters, and' a very good estate. One daughter
married Deacon Warren White, and resides in Lysander. The
son and other daughter are unmarried, and reside on the home-
stead of their father.

Barker, the youngest son of Joel Frisbie, studied law with Gen.
Jonas Clark ; was admitted to the Rutland County bar in 1814,
and was in the practice of law here from that time until he died,
which was in February, 1821. Barker Frisbie was not called a

5

t

06 HISTORY OP MIDDLETOWN.

brilliant man, hut a very good lawyer ; was a man of good
judgment, good habits, and a very laborious student. He was
elected Town Clerk in March, 1815, and held the office until his
death — which occurred in February, 1821.

Rufus Butts way, for many years, one of the useful men of the
town. He was born in the town of Wells, but at or before he
reached his majority he became an inhabitant of Middletown.
He was one of the first mechanics here ; although confined to no
particular trade, he was a rare mechanical genius, made ploughs,
ox yokes, rakes, baskets, tubs, or anything else the people needed.
He removed to Cambridge, Yt., about 1S41, and died but a few
weeks since over eighty years of age — his wife also recently died.
His son, Harvey, survives him and lives on the homestead in.
Cambridge.

]>ela Caswell removed from Mansfield, Mass., to Middletown, in
1736. He was then nearly fifty years old, and had ten children,
four sons and six daughters, all born in Massachusetts. Three of
them preceded him in coming here, the remaining seven came with
him. He too brought his family and effects with an ox team.. He
settled near where his grandson, Deacon J. Q. Caswell, now lives,
where he lived until his death ; lie died November 22d, 1826, at
the age of 89. His family were perhaps the most remarkable for
longevity of any family that ever lived in town. His father and
mother, who came with him from Massachusetts, lived to be very
old and died in Middletown, and were among the first laid in
Yonder burial ground. Eela Caswell's wife and ten children
survived him ; his widow was nearly 96 years old when she died.
One of his daughters, Mrs. Kecord, died not long since, at the
£Creat age of 09 years ; another, Mrs. Barber, the widow of the
late Russel Barber, dieji in Midd'ebury, N. Y., last summer (the
summer of 186b,) at the age of 93 years and some months. Two
other daughters lived to be very obi, and two are still living : Mrs.
Norton, whose age is now 89, and Mrs. Ten-ill, who is 81 years
old. Two of the sous, josia'h and Ziba, lived to be TO years old.
Jesse was 09 when he oied, and #Johu died at 40. Of this
numerous family, and "of their numerous descendants, none are
now living here except three children of John Caswell and their

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 67

families, vis: Miss Violetta Caswell, Mrs. Calvin Leonard and
Deacon John Q. Caswell.

Jesse Caswell and Ins family exerted a marked influence in the
Congregational Church for many years. He had three sons and
two daughters. Menira, his oldest son, was for some years one of
the deacons of the church, and was a long time its clerk. Like all
of this family, he was attentive, faithful and constant in the
discharge of his religious duties. Whatever might be the state of
religious feeling in the church, he was sure to attend its meetings
and to be ready to perform his port, lie did not wait for some
unusual interest to draw him out, but was ever at his post —
Deacon Menira Caswell now resides in -Gas tie ton.' Jesse, the
second son, graduated at Middlebury College, became a minister
of the gospel, and went to Siam as a missionary. After ten years
of laborious service in that capacity, he. died in Siam in the year
1848, at the age of 40. Rev. Jesse Caswell was a man of fair
abilities, a thorough and laborious student, and a devoted christian.
For some years before lie was ordained, he seemed to be under the
conviction that it was his duty to labor as a missionary among the
heathens, and never (so it seemed to me) did any man more
devotedly and unreservedly resign himself to convictions of duty,
lie seemed to throw his whole soul into the work. He was obliged
to undergo severe trials and privations in his field of labor in
Siam : but his efforts, under Providence, were in a good degree
successful. We could have desired that he had been longer
spared, but such was not the will of Him who doeth all things
well. Kev. Jesse Caswell was the first and only missionary to
Foreign lands ever sent out from this Congregational Church.
While a missionary at Siam, he instructed the King of that nation
in the English language. The King became much attached to
him, and, against the rules of the Siamese, attended the funeral of
Mr. Caswell, and wept like a child. He has kept up a corres-
pondence with the widow since her return to this country, and has
sent her valuable presents.

Fn.-eh Caswell, the third and youngest son of Jesse Caswell,
■Sr., also graduated at Middlebury and entered the ministry. He
died at Bennington, N. IL, in 1868, and was about 45 years old.

/

63 HISTORY OF JIIDDLETOW.W

The years of his ministry were mostly spent in New Hampshire,
though he preached in Middletown about six months in the time,
He died as he had lived, full in the faith once delivered to the
Saints.

The two daughters are both dead, they both married John
Gray, the youngest some years after the death of the oldest, each
left children.

Russel Barber, who married one of Bela Caswell's daughters,
was among those who came here soon after the town was organized.
He was among the active and useful men here, but had poor
health the latter part of his life which kept him at home. He died
in 1830, aged 02. He left a large family ; two sons and several
daughters are now living. Jervis, the oldest son living, was for
awhile one of the deacons of the Congregational Church, but has
for the last twenty-five years resided in Granville, In. Y. Russel,
the youngest son. resides in Middiebury, 2s. Y. The oldest
daughter living, married Rev. Beriah X. Leach. D.D., and lives in
Middletown, Conn. ; another daughter married Bhineas C, Orcutt,
and now resides in Jersey City.

Moses Leach, whose' name is on the roll of 1801, was early
here. He settled on the farm owned and, until recently, occupied
by John P. Taylor. He was a member of the Baptist Church, and
noted for his honesty and sincerity. His wife was also a member
of that church, and in her time was perhaps the most active and
influential of the female members. Moses Leach and his wire
have been dead many years. They left several children, Be v.
Beriah X. Leach, D.D., is the only son now living and resides in
Middletown, Conn. He is a Baptist clergyman, and has been in
the ministry about forty-five years, four or five of which were spent
in his native town, Middletown, Yt.

Reuben Loomis was early here. He came from Connecticut
and settled upon the first farm north of the village, now owned and
occupied bv Ruyal Coleman, Esq* Sylvanus Stone was the 'first
man who settled there, but he did not remain in town many years.
Reuben Loomis died September 24th, 1803, aged 02. He iett a
sou,. IWn Loomis, who lived on his father's homestead until he
died, January 21st, 18 &lf at the ago of 74. The daughter

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWS.

CD

married Joseph Spaulding^ Jr.. and was the mother of a large
family of children. She has been dead several years. Fitch
Loomis left five children : Reuben, who lias removed west, and
Fitch, who died in Middietown in 1.863 ; Mrs. Henry Gray, Mrs.
Thaddeus Ten-ill and Mrs. Johnson, were the daughters. The
Loomis family exerted a very healthful infience in society here,
and we can remember them all as peaceful, quiet and useful
citizens. They were all members of the Congregational Church,
and if they did not have the leading influence which others had,
that church is perhaps as much indebted to this family as any
■other for services, during the last sixty years.

Ezekiel Perry, a brother to Azor Perry, -removed 'here before
1700. He was for a time in Bennington County before coming
here. He was in the Bennington battle and severely wounded in
one of his feet. Ho raised a family of eleven children, most
of the ui are still living. Mrs. David Thomas was a daughter of
his, and died here in IS '4 ; Mrs. Roswel] Buel, another daughter,
still resi les here ; the remainder of the family mostly live in
Western New York.

George Oat man. whose name does not appear on the roll of
freemen of 178o, was one of the early settlers of the town. He
moved here from Arlington in 1785, but not until after that roll was
entered upon record. He was one of the first four or five settlers
of the town of Arlington, having settled there soon after 1700.
Mr. Oaknan settled here upon what has since been known as the
u Oatman farm," which was then as nature had left it — a rugged
forest. lie was an industrious man, a man of great physical
strength, and had been a brave soldier of the Revolution, lie had
a family of three $j ns : Eli, Eliakiin and Lyman. He jived to be
an old man — he died about 18-JO. His son?, Eliakiin and Lyman,
moved West many years ago, and are both dead, leaving families.
Eli was about eight years old when his father removed from
Arlington, and from that time until his death resided in Middle-
town. He will be remembered by all of us who knew him as a
very amiable, -social and agreeable companion, as well as a very
useful man. He was not an aspiring man, bu: a sensible, wcii to do
farmer, had a pleasant word and smiling countenance for all, and

70 , HISTORY OF M1DDLETOWN.

always bad the entire confidence ol the people of the town for his
integrity and good judgment. For many years, he almost'
constantly held the office of selectman, .or overseer, or some other
position of trust in the town, and was one of the founders of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and one of its ablest supporters until
his death. About the year 1800, he married Mary Symonds, a
daughter of Joel and Patience Symonds, of Pawlet, and by her
had eleven children. Eli Oatman died May 80th, 1851, at the
age of 74. His wife lived until February 16th, 1861, when she
died at the age of 80. She was a woman very remarkable for her
intelligence and purity of character, and to her a large and
interesting family are much indebted for these qualities of mind
and heart which they possessed, and for which they have been
distinguished.

The names of the children of Eli and Mary Oatman, are as
follows: — Ira, Orlin, Joel, Calista, Emily, Lucien, Cyril, Ellen,
Mary, Jane and Demis.

Ira was a farmer, an honest, unaspiring man, like Ins father.
He removed to Pontiac, Michigan, many years ago and died there
about six years since, leaving five children: Gardner, Emily,
Abagail, Lucy and George— all living but Abagail, and reside in
Iowa and vicinity.

Orlin, the second son, was well educated, a fine scholar, and
unusually prepossessing in his personal appearance. He married
a daughter of a clergyman in Rochester, ^N. Y., and became a
professor in a literary institution at the West — and was for many
years a popular lecturer. In 1859, while passing through
Milwaukie, Wis., he was attacked with cholera and died there.
His widow now resides in Evanston, Illinois. He had four
children, two daughters arc now living ; Emma, the oldest, married
Fred. Yandercook, and resides in Bennington; Frances, the
youngest, married David Vail, of Wisconsin.

Joel, the third son, is a physician. He became eminent in hie
profession, and distinguished as a man of uncommon energy, and
business tact and talent. He commenced the study of medicine
in his native town, with Doctor Eiiakini Paul ; attended two
courses of lectures at Castleton, and one or more at New York,

/

r .ORY OF MtDDLETOWN. VI

where he graduated in 1832. Before he had received his diploma,
lie conceived the idea of going into practice in the great
Metropolis. His mother having been made acquainted with his
intention, and having a mother's anxiety, was senoasly troubled
about it. She feared that her boy, without experience, and
penniless as he then was, was in no condition to go into business in
the great city of New York, especially as he then had no friends
or acquaintances in that place to lend him aid or influence — and
she besought her husband to dissuade him from the attempt. But
the father, seemingly unconcerned, replied to the mother, " You
needn't worry yourself about J eel, he has got Symonds enough in
him to find his way. out somewhere," and so it proved. The year
1832, as' it will be remembered, was the year in which the cholera
raged so terribly in New York and other places in the United
States. No sooner had our friend Joel pocketed his diploma, than
he started for Bellevuc Hospital, then used as a cholera hospital
in the city, and fearlessly volunteered his services, This Hospital
was filled with those cases ; while physicians and others shunned
it as they would death itself. The first day that Doctor Oatman
was in the hospital } there were twenty-seven deaths. The
Alderman of the Ward was so well pleased with the doctor's
resolution and sfc-il! on the first day, that, on the second, he
appointed him Ward Physician, and gave him the right of
selecttrig his associates. This position he held during the pre-
valence of the cholera in the city. In forty days he had saved
the sum of 8300. and more than that, he had gained a position in
that short space of time from which he could advance, and did
rapidly advance to an extensive and lucrative practice. After he
had accumulated a good property by his profession, he gradually
relinquished the practice, and devoted his time to the care and
management of his funds, lie has been, so far as we know,
more successful in the accumulation of property than any other
native of the town. Fortunate circumstances have undoubtedly
aided him to a considerable extent, and probably more than some
others of our townsmen, who from poor boys have become wealthy
men : bat the great secret of his success has been his energy,
together with his practical ability. Although not a man of

72 HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

extensive reading, jet he is a man of extensive knowledge, which
he seems to have by intuition and to get by observation. Instead
of sitting down and taking lime for a scientific and logical
investigation of a subject, he seizes upon it and turns it to a
practical account at once, and seldom fails in his purpose. He has
received the degree of Doctor of Laws, from one of the best
Universities in New York, and it is an honor to him wejl earned
and well deserved.

Doctor Oatman married an estimable lady in New York, in
1842, who has been some years dead. He has four children :
Mary E.? Hydro, Harriet J., and Albert. The doctor and his
family still reside in New York, but have spent a portion of the
summers in this town for the last twenty years, and until recently
upon the old homestead, which has been in the bands of the family
until within about a year ; and I need not add, that an annual
return of Doctor Catman to his native town will be hailed with
pleasure by all his surviving friends and acquaintances here.

Calista, the oldest daughter of Eli Oatman, married Russel
Mallary, and moved to Geneva Wisconsin, where she still resides ;
her husband is dead, and she remains a widow.

Emily married Augustus Knapp, of Birdstown, 111., she and her
husband are both dead.

Lucien died at Middle town, March 3d, 1861, at the age of 45.

Cyril went to Geneva, Wisconsin, when quite young ; has been
merchandizing there for twenty-five years or more, and successful
in his business. He has for many years been a Justice of the
Peace, and though not a lawyer by profession, has been the legal
adviser for his community. He was never married, but lives with
his sister, Mrs. Maliary.

Ellen married Doctor Nathan Deane, of Georgia, Vt. He died
some years since leaving one son, and she resides with her brother
in New York.

Mary married Joseph Bannister, of Middletown, who died June
loth. 186*3, at the age of 41. Mary also resided with her brother
in New Ycrk.

Jane married S. Wiilet, of Pawlet. They are both dead. Shedied
in Middletown, of Consumption, July 7th, 1S4S, at the age of 26.

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. ?S

Mr. Willet was afterwards struck by lightning and killed in
a boat at the West.

Derais married Milo Smith, a man living in the West, and
widely and favorably known in his region. He left his home at
the beginning of the war of 1861, at the unanimous call of his
townsmen, to lead them to death or victory. He was in Sherman's
campaign, and went and returned Colonel Milo Smith, having
repeatedly declined promotion.

As we look back upon that interesting family, as we remember
them while all at home upon that old homestead, and followed their
history down to the present time, there is a feeling of pleasure
and still there arises a'feelingof sadness. It is pleasant to realize
that so many from one family, in our little town, have become
useful members of society, and done their part so well in the great
business of life ; but it is sad to realize that so many are dead, dung
too in the prime of life and in the midst of their usefulness.

At this point would it not be profitable for us, for a moment, to
go back to the young society here, when the Oatmau family came
on to the stage. With them we find Merritt and Horace Clark, A,
L. Miner, Ovid Miner, and other members of the Miner families,
"Deri oh N. Loach, the Leffingwell and Brewster families, the
Bigelow family, the Caswell and Barber families, and many others
then young and vigorous, and, without flattery or vanity, we may
say that such an array of youthful talent, vivacity, beauty and
character is not often seen. But where are they now? We
answer — A large proportion of them have given a good account
of themselves. Many are now living and occupying prominent
positions ; but many have gone to their long homes.

Dyer Leffingwell was also one of the early settlers. lie was
from Norwich, Conn., and was the first hatter in town, and earned
on the business successfully .until his death. His simp stood
where the dwelling house of Mr. Homer South wick now stands.
Mr. LeMingwell was a valuable man in his time ; was not ambitious
but an industrious, honest, capable man : attended well to his own
anairs, and interested himself in the weliare of the town. He
served the town many years as constable and collector of taxes,
and twice represented it in the legislature, and was town clerk the

74 HISTORY pr MIBBLEtOWTtf*

year that he died, 1821. Middle town lost two town clerks by
death that year, Barker Frisbie and Dyer Leffingwell.

Mr. Leffingwell was twice married. His second wife was the
widow of Ohel Brewster, and a daughter of John Sanderlin. She
survived him nearly thirty years. Mr. Leffingwell' s large family
all removed from this town many years ago, except Harvey Leffing-
well, who still resides here, and is now one of the old men of the
town.

Perhaps no family or families have made more of the history of
Middle town than the Clark families. After the removal of the
Wood families they were for many years the most numerous of
any others of the same name in the town. Their ancestors were
from England. There were three brothers of the name of , Clark
who first came to Massachusetts Colony some time before the year
1700, of which Thomas Clark was one. Thomas had two sons,
Theopholus and Thomas, who removed to the Connecticut Colony
and settled in ts Old Canterbury," From Theopholus Clark came
the Clarks who have lived in Middletown ; from Thomas came
Isaac Chirk (old rifle) and the Clark families of Pawlet.

Theopholus Clark had six sons, viz : Nathaniel, Benjamin,
Adam. TLcopholus, Jonas and Stephen. Nathaniel had ten chil-
dren, seven sons and three daughters. Five of those sons removed
from Canterbury to Middletown, Yt., soon after the town was
organized. They were Asa, Elisha, Ilufns, Koswell and Ezra
Clark. Asa did not become a permanent resident, but remained
two or three years ; taught school in the winter and worked out in
the summer. They did not all come at the same time. Asa,
Elisha and Rufus were here as early as 178f> or 17811, Koswell
and Ezra came about two years after. The four brothers who
remained were among the solid, substantial men of the town for
manv years, and assisted in laying the foundation of society here
uptn correct, moral and religious principals. They were all mem-
bers of the congregational church. Elisha Clark was for some
twenty years a deacon of that church ; was the next one chosen
after Deacon- Jonathan Brewster. Kufus, Koswell and Ezra were
hardly less efficient and active. Ezra Clark was a physician, and
the first physician who settled in town. lie commenced practice

HISTORY OE MIDDLETOWK. If)

here about 1788 and continued in practice until 1819, when he
removed to the state of Ohio. The Chirk brothers were not
ambitious, aspiring men, but were remarkable for their decision and
energy of character, their stern integrity and earnest piety.
Their influence was great in the town ; yet it was not of the kind
that is exerted by politicians, through motives of self interest and
aggrandizement, but it was that kind of influence which is created
by good examples, good works, and a blameless life.

Deacon Elisha Clark was one of the first, victims of the epi-
demic which prevailed here in. 1818. He died at the age of fifty,
seven. The four surviving brothers acted as pall bearers on the
occasion of his funeraL Asa Clark died in Tinmouth about the
year 1823. lioswell Clark removed to Castleton about the year
1818, and died there August 12th, 1825, in the sixty-third year
of his age. Ruffes died in East Ponltney about 1837, and Doctor
Ezra Clark died in the state of Ohio about 1828. They all had
large families ; many of them are bow holding prominent positions
in different parts of the country. Deacon Merlin Clark, of Mid-
dlebury, a s«D of Roswell Clark, is' the -only representative now
known to me in Vermont from that branch of the Clark family,
and he well sustains the character of the race.

. Jonas Clark, one of the six sons of Theopholus Clark, removed
from Canterbury to this place in 1790, though some two years
prior to this time two of his sons, Enos and Theopholus ( twiu
brothers) had removed here and prepared the way for their father's
family. Jonas Clark had three sons, the two above named and
Jonas Clark, Jr., long known as General Clark. Jonas Clark,
Senior, was a peaceful, quiet citizen, a member of the baptist
church, and Was made the clerk of the baptist society at its organ-
ization in 1790, the same year that he came here. He died Sep-
tember 28d, 18iS, at the age of seventy years.

Enos, Theopholus and Jonas Clark, the sons of Jonas Clark
Senior, were all marked with an unusual energy of character.
Theopholus died young and left several children, among whoin wore
bimon and Milton Clark", who removed froin this place many years
ago, Enos was a man of vigorous intellect ; he followed the business
of his trade, a mason, until his death. He (lied in MiddletOwii,

76

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

at the age of fifty-one. Enos Clark left a family of four sons.
Barton, Culver, Ashley and Orson, and two daughters, Mrs. W.
W, Cook of Whitehall, N. and Mrs. Hall of Ellisburgh, N. Y.
None of the sons are now living but Ashley, who, with Miss Fannie
Clark, a daughter of Barton Clark, and Mrs. Isaac L. Gardner,
a daughter of Culver Clark, are how the only representatives
of the Clark family residing in Middletown. Hon. Orson Clark
was born in Middletown, February 2d, 1802. He acquired most
of his education .in the schools of his native village, but attended
an academy a few terms at Northampton, Mass., and at Castleton,
Yt. He taught school several seasons, and commenced teaching
at sixteen years of age. die studied law with his uncle, General
Jonas Clark, and was admitted to the bar at Rutland, at the
September Term, 1.828, and was in the practice of his profession
in Middletown until Ins decease, which occurred September 20th,
1848. He was a man of good habits, fond of books, a friend to
the cause of education, and a good lawyer — though lie never had
as extensive a practice as his uncle ; he did not seek it, but he had
a good judgment and was well versed in the elementary principles
of law. He represented his native town in the years 1835 and
1886. Was town clerk from 183*3 to 1842 inclusive, and was one of
the senators from Rutland County in the years 1840 and 1841.

In May, 1835, he was married to Amelia Brewster, daughter of
Ohel and Euinee (Smiderlin) Brewster, by whom he had two sous'
Albert an.! Warren. Albert is well educated, and now lives in
Cincinnati, Ohio. Warren is at present in Whitehall, N. Y. ; he
is an intelligent and promising young man., lie was four years in
the war of 1 SGI, He enlisted as a private in a cavalry regiment
from Illinois, and was discharged as captain of the same company
in which he first enlisted. He was at Donnelson, Shiloh, Vieks-
burg, and other hard fought battles of the South and West, and
gave a good account of himself as he would any where.

General Jonas Clark, the third son of Jonas Clark, Sr., furnishes
us, in himself, perhaps the roost striking example of untiring
industry and indomitable perseverance the town ever had. He
was sixteen years old, when lie came with his father to Miduic-
towru All the education he ever received at school, was

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWtf.

77

learning to read. His father had the misfortune of being poor ;
the son learned the mason's trade, wliieh he followed until he was
thirty years old, but occupied his evenings and leisure time in
getting his education, and used the fire place for a light in the
winter, and pine knots in summer. He obtained his legal educa-
tion while at work at his trade, occupying his evenings and leisure
hours in the study of Blaekstone and Chitty. lie was admitted to
the bar some little time after he was thirty years old, and soon
acquired an extensive practice, which he continued to have until
he was disabled by the infirmities of age. General Clark held the
office of State's Attorney, for Rutland County, for sixteen years
in succession ; was assessor and collector of government taxes in
1819, in a district composed of nine towns in Rutland County ;
represented the town of Middletown eighteen years ; was a justice
of the peace forty years, and as such married one hundred and four
collides. He was the Democratic candidate for Governor in 1849
— had several times been the candidate of his party for Congress in
this district. He was a member of three constitutional conventions,
the last of which was in 1850, when he was unanimously tendered
the presidency of the convention, hut could not accept it on
account of his age and infirmities.

As a lawyer, General Clark deservedly held a high rank. His
early opportunities did not allow him to become as learned as
Williams and Phelps, his cotemporaries, but he was no less success-
ful. What he lacked in learning, was made up by his industry
and unyielding perseverance. The lawyers of his time well knew
when they were to meet him in a suit, they were to meet a lawyer
who would be sure to have his side of the case prepared. Judge
Williams once said to me, that in his knowledge, he never in a
single instance, came to the trial of his cases unprepared, when
preparation was possible.

General Clark died at Middletown, February 21st, 1854, at the
arfe of 79 years. Gen. Clark had three sons, Merritt, Horace and
Charles. Charles died when but a few years old. Hen. Merrkt
Clark was born Febrimry ilch, 1*03. • He -graduated at Middie-
hurv Cmlej." in \$-o< and entered his father's office as a student
at law, where Ue remained abent two years. His health failing

78

. HISTORY OF MIDP LET OWN.

in that pursuit, and the mercantile business being a little more
congenial to his tastes, he, in company with his brother Horace,
opened a store in Middletown in 1825, and continued in the mer-
cantile business until 1841, when Merritt was elected cashier of
the Bank of Poultney, and removed to that town where he has
since resided, and since been the cashier of that Bank. They
first commenced business here in the building recently purchased
and repaired by the Messrs. Grays, but in 18-32 built the brick
store, now occupied by Mr. E. Vail k Son. They were very
successful in their business as merchants in this place. They
inherited their lather's energy and perseverance, and to this they
added a ceaseless and untiring attention to their business. No
item, however insignificant, escaped their attention, not so much
for its value in a single instance, as to have a plan, a system
which should not be deranged by inaccuracies, or any want of
proper care and attention, lion. Merritt Clark represented Mid-
dletown in the Legislature three years ; was a senator for Rutland
County in the State Legislature in the years of 1883 and 1864,
and represented the town of Poultney in 1805 and 18GG. In
1850 he was die democratic candidate for Congress in this district,
and has once or twice been a candidate of the same party for
governor. Mr. Clark has not for many years been an active par-
tisan, vet few men in the state are better versed in public affairs,
especially in matters connected with finances ; in those matters his
opinions have great weight. lie makes himself very useful in his
own town by his £ nancial skill, in assisting the educational institu-
tions there, and other public interests.

Mr. Clark has two sons, Henry and Edward. Henry has been
the seeretarv of the Vermont Senate since 1801. He is also the
seceuuy of the Vermont and Rutland County Agricultural Soci-
eties, and is now the editor of the Ilulland Ihrralcl. Edward is
a teller in the Poultney Bank.

Horace Clark kept his residence in Middletown until his death,
which occurred February 23d, 1852, at the age of forty seven,
although his business for some years prior to his decease had been
mostly oat of this town. For some four years prior to his decease
he had been engaged in building the Rutland and Washington

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 79

Railroad from Eagle Bridge, N. Y., to Rutland, Yt. This was
his favorite enterprise, bat it was his last. On trie 23d of Febru-
ary, 1848, at the organization of the company, lie was elected its
superintendent, and one of the directors. In four years from that
time the road was completed, and Horace Clark was dead. The
amount of toil and labor performed by him in that four years was
great, and it may be sincerely questioned whether there was
another man in Vermont equal to the task. That other public
works of equal and greater magnitude have been constructed even
in less time, we shall not deny. But this was a project which
encountered a strong opposition, and its ultimate success seemed
to be doubted by a large majority of the people, and among them
many who, from necessity, had to be relied on for pecuniary assis-
tance. . Of the men of means, talent and enterprise, Horace Clark,
for awhile, stood almost alone, but with 44 an unfaltering purpose :y
and a resolution which was invincible," he succeeded, and the
road was built.

Horace Clark left two sons, Charles and Jonas, They arc now
inactive business; Charles, in the marble business in Rutland,
Jonas as a merchant in New York.

Perhaps the most prosperous period in the existence of Middle-
town was between the years 1800 and 1811. The population had
increased from one thousand sixty-six, the number at the census of
1800, to one thousand two hundred and seven, the number when
the census of 1810 was taken. Tins was the largest population
the town ever had, and unquestionably it had at that time a larger
population than any other town in the county in proportion to its
amount of territory, and it also at that time had the largest
business interests in proportion to its size of any other town in the
county, and indeed it may be sincerely questioned whether it was
not at that time in advance of any other town in the county in
that respect. Pouitney River rises in Tin mouth and runs a west-
erly course through the center of the town from east to west, fur-
nishing excellent mill privileges. The Miners were located on this
stream., in the cast .--art of the town, and JonnBurnam on the
west part ; and in the village there were on this stream, and .the
small stream running down from the hills at the north part of the

so

HISTORY OF MIDDLEIOWN.

town, and running into the river at the village, two tanneries,
clothiers works and carding machine, distillery and other machinery,
and all inactive operation — and all were conducted by enterpris-
ing and competent business men. Burnam, as we have before
seen, had a very extensive business for those times, and so had the
Miners. There were in the town at the time (1S10), four grist
mills, three saw mills, two or three forges, two distilleries, two or
three clothiers establishments, besides other mills before named,
and all were apparently doing business to their utmost capacity.
In the village were several mechanics' shops, two taverns, two
stores, one kept by a Scotchman by the name of William jSempie ;
the other by domes Ives ; aJI was alive with the hum of business.
The town had become a central place for this part of Rutland
County. Many of the people from the adjoining towns of Poult-
ney, Ira, Tinmen th and Wells, came here for their mechanical
work, to the mills, and for other business purposes. But this then
active, thriving little place received a check by the freshet which
occurred in July, 1811, from which it never fully recovered. Its
numerous mills and machinery, with the exception of what have
since been known as Gray's Mills, then owned by Moses Copeland,
were all swept away. Uurnam's mills in the west part of the
town, as before mentioned consisting of a grist and saw mill, (he
had at this time two grist mills) an oil mill, foundry, forge, cloth-
iers works and carding machine, distillery, some mechanics' shops
and other buildings attached, were all carried away, with several
hundred bushels of grain, a quantity of lumber, and much other
property. The stream rose so suddenly that but little was saved.
Miner's mill, in the east part of the town had just been undergoing
thorough repairs under the superintendence of Henry Gray, who
was then a young man and had just completed his Erst job of work
in town at his trade of miil-wright. Mr.. Gray lost all he 'had,
which consisted of his chest of tools, and his clothing except what
he hai on. Orson Brewster had a tannery, and his brother Jona-
than a clothiers' establishment, located near where A. W. Gray &
Sons' horse ] ower manufactory now stands, which shared the same
fate. A lew rods above the bridge, in the east part of the village,
was a distillery owned by James Ives, and above that a tannery.

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

SI

The hides in this tannery were in great part saved, and the dis-
tillery building was not carried away, but the hogs in the yard, to
the number of one hundred or more, went down the stream, and
were scattered along from Middle town to Poultney, wherever they
happened to be driven ashore ; some came out alive, but most of
them were drowned. Two dwelling houses— one called the Corbin
house, the other the Eldridge house — in the east part of the vil-
lage, and on opposite sides of the stream running down from the
north part of the town, were also carried away ; and besides this
destruction of mills, machinery, dwelling houses and other property,
great injury was done to the lands on those streams. Some por-
tions of the meadow lauds were cut up and washed away . stone,
gravel and sand were carried on to other portions.

The day on which this freshet occurred, opened bright and clear ;
but about nine o'clock A. M., a black cloud was seen rapidly ris-
ing in the west, accompanied with thunder, and the rain soon fell
in torrents, and so continued to fall until the latter part of the day.
It seemed, as I have been told, like a succession of 'thunder show-
ers following each other without intermission, and what may per-
haps be considered as remarkable, the heavy rain was confined to
the town of Middletown and the west part of Tinmouth. Damage
was done in Poultney. Poultney river runs through that town,
and was swollen by the fall of water in Middletown and Tinmouth ;
but the fall of water in IVakney, as I .have been informed, was
not great.

The great event of that day was the rescue of fourteen persons
from the " Corbin House " just before it was carried off by the
rising flood. This house then stood near where M. E. VaiFs store-
house now stands, which is near the bridge and on the west side
of the little stream which runs down from the north part of the
town.' This house was at the time occupied by Elihu Corbin and
his family, consisting of his wife and children, and his mother, then
about seventy years old. She was the mother of Mrs. Babcock, who
recently died here at the age of over eighty years. Besides that
family, Israel, son of Russel Barber, and several children from the
Hawkins family, who lived on the hill north of Mr. Lucius Cope-
land's, had left the school and gone in there to get shelter from the
6

82

HISTORY OP MIDDLETOWN.

rain. The inmates of this house were not aware of their clanger
until it was upon them, neither were the inhabitants of the village.
Besides those who resided in the village, there were many there
from without, and all seemed unconscious of approaching danger.
The water rose rapidly, especially in this stream on which were the
Corbin and Eldridge houses. The first thing which seemed to
attract the attention of the inhabitants and cause alarm was the
going off of the Eldridge House, which was situated on the east
side of this stream and nearly opposite the Corbin house, and
nearly north and on the opposite side of the road from where the
v01aa;e school house now stands. Elihu Corbin was in the village
and called the attention of the people to the danger his family-
were in, when they found his house already surrounded by water,
and the appearances indicating that this house must soon share the
same fate of the Eldridge house. .The bed of the stream was
about where it now is ; but the water had so risen in a short space
of time that there was a strong current on the west side of the
house of about seventy feet wide, and between the house and the
village, and had become so deep and rapid that fording it was
impossible.

The people in the village on being warned of the danger, imme-
diately rallied upon the western shore of this current of water, and
at first seemed to look upon the scene before them in despair.
This little stream which rises among the hills and mountains in the
north part of the town, and is ordinarily so small that fording it
even is unnecessary to cross it — a mere step in many places is
sufficient — had suddenly swolen to the dimensions of a large river,
and the descent was such, in coming down from the hills, that the
current in this place was exceedingly rapid and furious, and as if
to render the scene still more grand and terrific, there was added
the roar of the wateis and the dull heavy sounds of rocks and
stones striking each other as they were moved along by the resist-
less current. But what should they do ? There was seventy feet
of water between them and the house, with a current that no man
could withstand a moment, and the house was being rapidly under-
mined, and already was trembling from the action of the water,
and fourteen persons were in it who must in a few minutes be taken

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 83

from there or perish in the mad waters, Joseph Fox was at that
time engaged with others at the tannery, some rods above, in
removing hides to a place of safety, when a messenger came to
and stated the condition of things at the Corbin house, and told
him that his presence was desired there at once. He went there
immediately, and, as he has himself said, suggested getting the
liberty pole which was then kept in the shed near the congrega-
tional meeting house, and the bell rope from the baptist meeting
house. Whether he suggested it or not they were brought there
as soon as fleet men could do it. One end of the liberty pole was
made fast on the shore, and the other end thrown up stream, and
was made to swing around mih the current so as to lodge upon'
some stone and gravel whion had been washed up near the door
on the west side of the house ; but this did not leave the pole clear
from the water ; it dashed over it almost the whole length, or that
part ot it which was over the water ; but that was the best they
could do ; the rescue of those persons in the house must be affected
by crossing on that pole or not at all. One end of the bell rope
was securely fastened around the body of Mr. Fox, and the other
end placed in the hands of trusty men, and Fox undertook the
perilous adventure of crossing on that pole to the house. The
men holding one end of the rope had directions that if he should
fall from the pole, or be sv>~ept from it by the water to draw him
ashore. He could not walk on it, as possibly he might if it had
been entirely above the water, but undertook and succeeded in
getting over as lie would climb a standing pole. Mr, Fox was
under water a portion of the time while crossing, and was very
much exhausted ; the blood started freely from his mouth and
nose. He opened the door of the house, and raised his end of the
liberty pole and put it in the doorway, and that raised the pole out
of the water. He then took the end of the rope which had been
fastened to his body and fastened it to the house at a convenient
height above the pole to hold on to while walking on it ; the other
end of the rope was made fast at a corresponding height on the
shore. At the same time the men on shore had procured some
sticks of timber, and those they and Fox together managed to get
along side of the pole and fastened to it, All this was accom.

84

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

plished with the utmost haste, but it formed a bridge over which
those fourteen persons were all taken off and saved. In fifteen
minutes after the last person reached the shore, the house was
swept away by the flood.

A question has arisen, and some dispute as to whether Joseph
Fox brought off those persons from the house ? That question, it
seems to me, is comparatively of small importance. The great
feat of that occasion was the first crossing on that pole submerged
as it was in a furious current of water, and nothing could have
been effected without it. This was done by Joseph Fox if wit-
nesses, both dead and living, can be relied on ; and it has often
been said to me that no other man on the ground, even with the
courage to have undertaken it, had the physical ability to accom-
plish it. Mr. Fox was then a young man ; had been brought up a
sailor in one of the seaport towns of Connecticut ; had great phys-
ical strength for a man of his size, and was agile as a cat. There
were other men there, and all were doing all they coulcl do,
Among the active men present were Russel Barber, Jonas Clark,
Jonathan Morgan, Charles Stoddard and Simon Clark. After Mr.
Fox had crossed and the pole had been raised, the rope fastened to
the house, in the manner above given, to hold on to while walking,
and the sticks of timber placed alongside the pole and fastened to
it, others crossed over and assisted in getting off the inmates of the
house. The children were carried ; the adults walked across, as
they were led or guided by Fox and. others. "Old Mother Cor-
bin," at her own request, was the last to leave the house. Mr.
Fox said, when he first entered the house, he found her quietly
smoking her pipe, apparently unconcerned, and while she seemed
rejoiced at the prospect of saving the others, seemed to have little
or no anxiety for herself. Mr. Fox lived to be an old man, and
died in Middletown about two years ago. May he long be remem-
bered for his heroic and daring conduct on this occasion ; but for
him those fourteen persons probably would have then perished.

A man by the name of Urrin Clcavekmd was drowned on this
occasion ; about the time they started for the liberty pole and bell
rope, Cleaveland started with some others and went some rods
above and found a tree which had been uprooted and fallen across

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

85

the stream Cleaveland thinking that possibly the Corbin House
might be reached from the other side, undertook to cross on this
tree, but was carried down the stream. His body was afterwards
found nearly divested of clothing.

Since writing the foregoing, Dea. Mcnira Caswell, of Castjeton,
has put into my possession two letters which he has recently
received from two of the old inhabitants on the subject of that
flood. One is from Dea. Jervis Barber, well known to many of
you. I would like to copy it entire, but for want of time must
omit a portion of it.

He writes : — " I am requested to give the facts and incidents
which came under my observation in the flood in Mkldletown in
1811. I was then seven years old, my brother Israel was a year
and a half older. The day on which the freshet occurred we
went to school in a large two story house, then owned by William
Semple, which stood directly opposite the school house east of the
village, and on the bank of the stream—it was called the Eldridge
house. The teacher, fearing danger, dismissed the school a little
before noon. About three o'clock in the afternoon this Eldridge
house was swept away by the rising flood; myself, brother Israel,
Ilarley and Ezra Haskins, two other school children stood in the
road in front of it at the time. We then went clown the road
towards the bridge and observed Corbin's children, who seemed
to be enjoying the scene very mucin It was proposed by some
one of cur number to take shelter in the Corbin house, and with
them enjoy the scene. We all made for the house, and my brother
and the two Haskins boys went through the water, which was
already running west of the house, but my legs were not long
enough to ford it, and I backed out. Soon after that I called to
my brother to leave the house, as the water was rising fast. He
made the attempt but it was too late— he was obliged to turn back
with fear and alarm depicted on his countenance.

At this point my own observation ceased, though I could but
observe that the little plot of ground around the house, not covered
with water, was rapidly growing smaller and smaller until it was
entirely lost to my view, and no longer wishing to look upon the
raging element which I believed would soon sweep into eternity

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

my brother and those with him. I went into the house of a Mr.
Fuller, which then was standing about where widow Burnam's
house now is, for shelter and sympathy. Mr. Fuller was in the
village, and while going there those in the house made signs to him
of distress, but he did not heed them.

The last time I saw Mr. Fox he told me all about the rescue of
those persons in the Corbin house ; that he was in. the tannery
above assisting in saving some hides when word came to him that
Corbin's family would soon be swept away unless rescued ; that
he immediately hastened to the spot-— found a multitude collected
on the bank of the stream — but nothing doing towards their rescue,
and in fact all were agreed that nothing could be done ; but when
the liberty pole was suggested it was brought to the spot at once."

Deacon Barber writes that Mr. Fox told him that, " when about
half way across the pole the body of Mr. Cleaveland, who had
fallen into the stream above, came floating down and struck him
and turned him from the upper side of the pole ; that the man
hold of the rope seeing the body floating down supposed it was
Fox and drew him ashore ; that he (Fox), as soon as he could get
breath sprang again for the pole ; the men held him for a moment,
telling him it was impossible to cross, but he released himself from
them, sprang to the pole, and the next time succeeded in getting
over.',

The other letter to which I have alluded is from Mrs. Priscilla
(Barber) Leach. She is the sister of Deacon Jervis Barber. I
copy a portion of that letter as it aids much in bringing out the
facts in relation to that exciting and interesting affair, From Mrs.
Leach I get the date, that is the day of the month. bne says :
" The 'flood,' as it was called, occurred on the 22d of July, as I
had occasion to know from a minute made with chalk on the walls
of the room by my father the next morning." '

In writing of the affair at the Corbin house, she says : " The
family of Elihu Corbin were in the house, consisting of his aged
mother, his wife and children, and my oldest brother Israel and
other school children were there, in all to the number of fourteen.
There seemed no help for them, and men withdrew from the scene,
so as not to witness the final catastrophe. My father could sec

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 87

Israel on a high door step, and supposed that Jervis -was also there.
Mr. Corbin wasjrestrained by force from plunging into the stream.
By whom the liberty pole was suggested as a means of relief I
cannot say, but it was brought and thrown across the stream, when
Joseph Fox, with ropes about hrs person, one end of which were in
strong hands, and thus he periled his life in a successful effort to
reach the other side. He secured the end of the pole, when oth-
ers walked over to the rescue, foremost among whom were my
father, who, catching up brother Israel placed him on the shoulders
of Mr. Fox, who bore him safely over. He, Israel playfully said,
" rode over the river on a Fox." Some remained in the house to
prepare the women and children for their perilous voyage, while
others were making the voyage, with a child clinging to their
necks, others assisted the women to walk the slippery pole.
" Granny Corbin," as she was familiarly called, remained until
the last, having taken refuge in the comforting belief " that if
she was to be saved, she would be saved," She was taken from
the house and put upon the pole, a man supporting her on either
side, and guiding her steps she got safely over."

There were other exciting scenes in town on that day. The
tannery belonging to Deacon Orson Brewster, situated as we have
before seen where the horse power manufactory now is, was also
surrounded by water. There were some six or eight persons there
and before they were aware of it a current of water thirty or forty
feet wide was running on the north side of the tannery, which,
with the main stream, completely shut them in. They soon by
signals called men to their assistance, who were enabled to get
across the current a long stick of timber which, almost at the same
moment, had floated down stream to them. A man by the name
of Farmer, who was in the tannery, was the first man to attempt
the crossing on the timber. The stick not being securely placed
turned and let him into the water. He was carried down the
stream, but was rescued before serious injury was done to him.
The others in the tannery all came safely off.

David Thomas was then building the house now owned by A. G.
Hoadley. During the day he started to go to Mr. Eigelow's,

88

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

across the bridge a little above the tannery, and as he stepped
from the last plank on the south end of the bridge, it went off.

The disastrous effects of this flood were severely felt in Middle-
town lor many years, and indeed the town, a3 a place of business,
never fully recovered from it. John Burnam, who had been the
leading business man of the town, was becoming an old man, and
felt disinclined to undergo the necessary labor and care which
would be required to start anew in so extensive a business as he
had done. He however rebuilt his forge and saw mill, which were
in operation some years after that, but without the activity which
his former mills had shown. Miner's mills were rebuilt, but never
manifested the same activity afterwards.

A good many men were thrown out of employment, and were
obliged to seek it elsewhere. At the census of 1820 we find the
population of the town to bo one thousand thirty-nine, a falling off
of one hundred and sixty-eight from the census of 1810. This
was undoubtedly owing " in a great measure, if not entirely to the
sad effects of the freshet in 1811. Yet, notwithstanding the great
destruction of property, Middletown continued to be an active,
lively little place for many years afterwards.

For two or three years following 1811, it was very sickly here,
more so probably than has ever been known here before or since.
An epidemic which in that time prevailed in many parts of the
state carried to the grave many of the best citizens of the town.
Aside from that time there has not at one time, to my knowledge
or information, been any unusual amount of sickness.

It has been said to me by the " old folks " that " politics run
higfi here during the war of 1812/' Very likely ; politics always
did "run high" in Middletown, when they run at all. Every
town, as well as every individual, has a character of its own. It
is a kind of individuality, and belongs to towns collectively as
much as to individuals singly. One trait in the character of _ Mid-
dletown manifests itself wherever anything like a controversy
occurs, whether in politics or anything else — they fight it out in
earnest — they make no chills play of it, but each party enters the
contest with a spirit that shows a determination to win. As we say
sometimes of children who inherit the traits of character of their

HISTORY GF MIDDLETOWN.

89

ancestors, " they came honestly by it." The early settlers of this
town, who founded the institutions here were as pure a set of men
as ever lived in New England, but they were unusually energetic,
persevering and determined. They are long since in their graves,
but " their works do follow them."

This may also be said of the people of Middletown : whenever
they undertake to do anything, they do it thoroughly and well.
The alacrity with which they concentrated their efforts upon any
public enterprise has long since become proverbial. If a public
meeting is had, it is not only fully attended, but is conducted with
that order, decorum, and with the efficiency seldom equalled, even
in the large towns of tire state.

ECCLESIASTICAL.

At this point I will give the ecclesiastical history of the town.
I shall be obliged for want of space to- abridge from what T had
originally written.

The first church organized in Middletown was the congregational
church. The exact date of its organization I am unable to give,
but on the cover of the first book of records I find the date of
May, 1782, and I found the date of the organization given as
1782 in a religious miscellany published about 1840. It is prob-
able that the church was formed in that year. The first record
which I fuid bears date May 26th, 1783. There was a meeting of
the church at that date at which Gideon Miner was chosen modera-
tor, and Joseph Spaulding, clerk. The first record is dated at
Wells, and it was known as the congregational church of Wells
until the organization of Middletown in the fall of 1784. It may
now be impossible to give the names of the first members of the
church, or those who became members by the organization, but I
have become satisfied that the following were among them. I give
the names in the order in which they appear on the record.

William Frisbic., Stephen Wood, Joseph Spauhling, Gideon
Miner, Timothy Hubbard, Jonathan Brewster, Abel White, Increase

I

90

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

Raddj William Frisbie, Jr., Elisha Gilbert, Jonathan Mehurin,
Richard Haskins, Nathan Record, Reuben Searl, Thomas French
and Benjamin Haskins. There were probably about the same
number of females as males, but it is more difficult to designate
them than the males.

How, then, might it not be profitable for us to stop a moment
and take a view of the situation here at the time this church was
formed. If it was in 1782, it is not probable that there was to the
amount of seventy-five acres of land cut over within the present
limits of the town. No framed houses had been built ; their rude
habitations were of logs, and yet here in this then wilderness, a
church, was formed. Those .men had come here to make for them-
selves and their families permanent homes. And we need no other
evidence of their ideas of the importance of sustaining religious
institutions than the fact that they established a church almost at
the outset of the settlement.

The first meeting house was a log house. It was erected near
the south east corner of the burial ground ; when it was built I
cannot say, but it was there in the fall of 1784. The meeting
which organized the town, November 17th, 1784, was held in that
house. Whether it was built hj the congregationalists alone, or
by them and the baptists combined, I cannot say, but they proba-
bly united in building it.

Jonathan Brewster was the leading man in forming the church,
and was the leading man in it for more than twenty years after-
wards. There were others in the church of equal ability, but he
was remarkable for taking a deep interest in the affairs of the
church, and devoting to it much of his time. He was the first
deacon of the church. For twenty-one or twenty-two years after
the church was formed, it was without a pastor. During this time
Deacon Brewster watched over it as he would a child of his own ;
and it is worthy of remark, that during this time the church grad-
ually gained in members and strength. Meetings were held regu-
larly, as the records show, and were well attended. Their com-
muiiion services were probably as faithfully and regularly attended
to as they have since ever been in that church. Rev. Ithamar
Hibbard usually administered on those occasions. He was the first

HISTORY OP MIDDLETOWN. 91

settled minister over the congregational church of Poultney, and
it has been said was almost as much attached to this congregational
church as to his own. He had two sisters in this church — the
wives of William and Joel Frisbie.

Not long after the church was organized there were others united
with it, whom we might almost class with the pioneers — among
whom were Elisha and Rufus Clark. Elisha Clark was early made
a deacon of the church, and was a very faithful and efficient mem-
ber, as were all the Clark brothers of that family.

The early members of the congregational church, a3 well as the
baptist church, were men of the puritan stamp — firm, decided and
unyielding in their principles and religious doctrines, and prompt,
faithful and constant in their attention to religious duties, and the
ordinances. They adhered strictly to their rules of discipline. If
any member of the congregational church was absent from the
communion service, Deacon Brewster would start on Monday
morning and learn the cause of it ; but at the same time there
was that interest in the welfare of each other, that care and watch-
fulness and brotherly affection, that we would do well to imitate.

A little later we find Lewis, JUampson, Joel and Gideon Miner,
Jr., added to the church; also Orson Brewster, Fitch Loomis,
Joseph Spaulding, Jr., Joseph Brown, Jesse and Ziba Caswell, and
many others.

Quite early the congregational society was formed, but I have
been unable to find the early records and cannot give the date.
In 179G a meeting house was built upon the " green " or common
some hundred feet south of where the congregational house now
stands. The congregational society had previously purchased an
acre of ground for a meeting house lot ; which included what is
now known as " the green," and which they now have the title to.
It was deeded to them by Deacon Elisha Clark. Up to this time
(179G) meetings had been held in the log meeting house, and in
private dwellings.

I should judge from the records that it was with a good deal of
effort that the people succeeded in building their first house of
worship after the log house. The congrcgationalists and baptists
'united in building it, and they were some two years about it after

92 HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

it was commenced, and four or five years after it was seriously
contemplated.

I have before me a report of the congregational society's com-
mittee on the subject of building that house— made November
10th, 1794— from which I take a few lines, which will call to the
recollection of some of us the appearance of that old house.

" The house shall be furnished to the turn of the key by the 1st
of October, 1796, in the following manner. The lower part shall
consist of twenty .six pews and four body seats in front of the
square. In the galleries there shall be a row of pews adjoining
the walls of the house, and the rest of the space suitably taken up
with seats ; also a pulpit and canopy shall be erected, and turned
pillars under the galleries, which shall be painted blue, together
with the canopy and breast work in front of the galleries. The
outside of the house shall be glazed and painted, and stone steps
shall be erected by the first of October, 179"). The body of the
house shall be painted white, and the roof red ; and painted equal
to Graham's old house, in Rutland,. and the joiner work shall be
equal to that of the west parish meeting house, in Rutland afore-
said."

This report was signed by Bela Caswell, Luther Eilmore and
Joel Miner, ( they were a committee to devise plans) and was
adopted by the society in the form of Resoiutions. Some of us
remember the old house so well, that we know that the above plan
was adopted in the construction of the house.

There was once a fund belonging to the congregational society.
It was created by the members themselves. It was got up through
the influence of Joel Miner and others as a stock concern, divided
into shares of twenty-five dollars each, and the members took as
many shares as they chose and paid in the money or gave their
notes. This fund was raised in this way soon after 1800, and
amounted to about §5,000; but from some cause this fund was
entirely exhausted soon after 1880.

January 26th, 1801, Orson Brewster and Gideon Miner, Jr.,
were elected deacons of the church. At the same' meeting the
church voted '* to choose a committee of tbree to make proposals
to Rev. Henry Bigelow for settlement." May olst, 1805, we

HISTORY OE MIDDLETOWN.

93

find tlie following record : " After hearing the christian experience
of Henry Bigelow, a candidate for the ministry, the church voted
satisfied, and passed the following resolution : Itesolved, that the
church entertain a high sense of the abilities of Henry Bigelow, a
candidate for the ministry from the town of Colchester, Connecti-
cut, now residing in this town, as a preacher of the gospel, and we
are desirous to unite with the society to call him to settle with this
church.' '

To carry this into offect the church, on their part, appointed
Deacons Jonathan Brewster and Elisha Clark, Joseph Spaulding
and Joel Frisbie, a committee to unite with a committee from the
society in presenting Mr. Bigelow a call to become their pastor.
The call was presented and accepted, and Mr. Bigelow was ordained
September 5th, 1805, and became the first settled minister over
the congregational church in Middletown.

Mr. Bigelow remained the pastor of this church until his death,
which occurred June 25th, 1832. His ministry in the main was
in our opinion, successful. That Mr. Bigelow was a man of supe-
rior ability never was questioned to my knowledge by any one who
ever heard him preach. He was a graduate of Yale College, well
educated in the doctrines of the bible, was truly orthodox, and
firm in his religious sentiments, an eloquent speaker, and certainly
a man of great power in the pulpit. He had his faults as well as
the rest of us. He was sometimes accused of levity. He was
very social in his disposition, a ready wit, and would sometimes
descend to that kind of joking conversation which perhaps did not
well become a minister of the gospel. But in the pulpit, or in any
religious meeting he never appeared otherwise than as a sincere ^
earnest, christian man. It was said of him " that when he was in
the pulpit, it seemed as though he never ought to come out, and
when he was out as though he never ought to go in."

During Mr. Bigelow's ministry there were several interesting
revivals in the church, and among them one in 1831, which was
peculiarly interesting, Mr. Bigelow's health began to Jail as early
as the spring or early summer of 1831. He bCcmed conscious
that a disease was fastening itself upon him which would soon ger-
minate his existence, and as appeared to rnc, summoned all his

94

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

power and energies for a final effort in the cause of his Master.
His usual habit of jesting -was abandoned, and in the place of it
he occupied his time in sober reflection and godly conversation.
His sermons during that summer were unusually effective, and he
was probably the instrument of awakening an extraordinary
religious interest in this church. On the first Sabbath of Septem-
ber, 1831, twenty four were added to the church, and on the first
Sabbath of November following nineteen more were added. After
Mr. Bigelow's death, an obituary notice appeared in the papers,
which was written by the Bev. Stephen Martindale, then of Tin-
mouth, his long and intimate friend. It was as follows :

" At Middletown, Yt., Rev. Henry Bigelow, in the fifty-fifth
year of his age, the thirtieth of his ministry. Henry Bigelow was
born of reputable parents in Marlboro, Conn., Febr'y 20th, 1777.
He graduated at Yale College in 1802. Studied for the ministry
with Rev. Chas Backus, D. D«, and was ordained over the congre-
gational church in Middletown in 1805. In his death his widow
and numerous family have lost a kind, affectionate, faithful and
endeared husband and father. Society, a plain, argumentative,
powerful and persuasive herald of the gospel ; the church a pastor
indeed ; clear, pungent and eloquent in his pulpit services ;
always alive in the defence of the faith once delivered to the saints.
The cross was his hope in life, his support through a protracted
and often severe illness, and his unutterable consolation in death.
In view of his death bed scene it may be said, a precious in the
sight of the Lord are the death of his saints."

The church during the ministry of Mr. Bigelow, embracing a
period of about twenty-eight years, was much larger than it nowr
is. It contained a goodly number of members, noted for their
wisdom, piety and devotion, and the church during this period was
in the main prosperous.

Some little time after the death of Mr. Bigelow a Kev. Mr.
Stone preached here about six months, but the church did not
choose to settle him.

Kev. Guy C. Sampson preached here about two years, com-
mencing some time in 1833. Mr. Sampson is still living, but for
some years has not been in the ministry.

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

95

October 30th, 1833, Menira Caswell, Jervis Barber and Reuben
Loomis were elected deacons of the church. The record gives as
a reason for these elections, that Deacon Miner had removed to
Ohio, and Deacon Brewster was about to remove. Deacon Brews-
ter removed to Northampton, Mass., in the spring of 1835.

Rev, John A. Avery came to this plaee m the spring of 1836,
and was settled over this church. He was dismissed, and left here
in the fall of 1841, and went to Onondaga, N. Y., and lived there
and at Syracuse since. Mr. Avery was a sincere, earnest, good
good man, a faithful pastor, and has been affectionately remem-
bered by many members of this church. He has been dead about
two years.

Rev. B. Reynolds came here in September, 1842, and preached
here until May, 1S44.

Rev. Mr. Payne came here in December 1846 and preached
here about one year.

Rev. John II . Bechwith was settled over this church in the fall
of 1848, and was dismissed -in the fall of 1855. He was the pas-
tor of this church longer than any one has been, except Mr. Big-
elow. It was during his ministry that the congregational meeting-
house was removed to where it now stands, and repaired.

Rev. Enoch Caswell, a native of the town, preached to this
church about six months in the year 1856, after winch he returned
to New Hampshire where he had hitherto labored.

Rev. Calvin Granger came here in the fall of 1858, and was
installed over this church. He was dismissed by an ecclesiastical
council in April, 1S64, and is now the pastor of the congregational
church in Hubbardton. It was during Mr. Granger's ministry
that an addition of sixteen feet in front was made to the meeting-
house, with the spire, and a fine bell was procured.

Rev. M. Martin preached here about a year, commencing in
September, 1865.

Rev. G. My rick came here in the fall of 1866, and is the pres-
ent pastor of this church.

Deacons Caswell, Barber and Loomis, some years subsequent to
their election, removed from here. Julius Spaulding was elected
to till the vacancy occasioned by the removal of Deacon Caswell.

96

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

Deacon Spaulding afterwards removed to Poultney. Thaddeus
Terrill held the office of deacon in the church for several years,
and now resides near Rochester, liL Y. The present deacons of
the church are Asahel Spaulding, John Q. Caswell and Dyer
Leffingwell.

The clerks in their order fron the organization of the congrega-
tional church, are Joseph Spaulding, Thomas French, William
Frisbie, Jr., Joseph Rockwell, Gideon Miner, Jr., Jesse Caswell,
F. Kellogg, Moses King, Menira Caswell, Harvey Leffingwell and
Jay B. Norton, the present clerk.

The number of members at the present time are forty-six.

The baptist church in Middletown was organized in 1784. It is
one of the oldest baptist churches in the State, if not the oldest.
From about 1790 until 1802 it was a large church ; it then
embraced in its communion members residing in the towns of
Wells, Poultney, Tinmouth and Ira. In 1802, thirty-four or thirty-
five members, residents of Poultney, by vote of the church, had
leave to withdraw, and form a church in that town, which they did.
There were also a good many members residents of Tinmouth up
to a later date than 1802. The first meeting of the baptist church,
or the first of which we have any record, Caleb Smith was elected
moderator, and Thomas McClure, clerk. Caleb Smith appears to
have been the leading man in the baptist church from its organiza
tion until his death, which occurred Nov'r 10th, 1808. He usually
acted as moderator in the absence of the minister, and was the
first deacon of the church. I should judge from the records, that
he was an active, faithful and efficient member, and held a position
in the baptist church similar to that of Deacon Jonathan Brewster
in the congregational church. lie was not a noisy man, but
undoubtedly an efficient worker in laying the foundations of the
institutions in the settlement.

Among the first members of the baptist church were Caleb
Smith, Thomas McClure, John Sundcriin, Gamaliel Waldo, Hcz-
ekiah Mallary, Zaeheus Mallary, Nathaniel Military, Daniel Ford,
Asher Blunt, David Wood, Ephraim Foster, Josiah Johnson,
Nathan Walton and Jonathan Ilaynes.

Jonathan Ilaynes was quite early elected a deacon of this church,

* HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 97

but did not accept the office for the reason, probably, of his phys-
ical infirmities, occasioned by a terrible wound which he received
in Bennington in 1777. Yet he was a useful man in the church
while he lived, held many important positions, and was regarded
as a sincere, ardent and devoted christian.

Daniel Ford, who, I understand, was the father of Nathan
Ford, and the grandfather of Joel Ford, was elected deacon to
supply the place that the church intended to have filled with Mr.
Haynes. Deacon Ford, I have been informed, was an honest, good
christian man.

Gamaliel Waldo was an efficient man in the Baptist church. He
was one of those decided, stern, resolute men, who was not to be.
moved by any outside influences. And this, to a great extent,
was the character of all,' or nearly all, of the early members of
both this and the congregational denomination. They had a pur-
pose which they resolutely followed. Both churches were formed
early, and at a time and under circumstances that we should
hardly supposed would have admitted of prosperity ; but they at
once sprung into life and activity, and perhaps they were as suc-
cessful the first year of their existence as they have ever since been
in the same period of time.

• The Baptist church was without a minister until 1790 — during
which time Bev. Bezekiah Eastman seems to have administered at
communion seasons, and performed the rites of baptism. Where
Mr. Eastman lived I have been unable to learn.

August Gth, 1790, the baptist church voted to give a call to
Bev. 83-lvanus Ilaynes, of Prineetown, Mass., to become their
pastor. The Baptist society which was formed in 1790 joined the
church in the call. Deacon Caleb Smith was appointed on the
part of the church, and Jonas Clark on the part of the society to
perform this duty. Mr. Haynes accepted the call, and I am dis-
posed to copy his communication to the church, signifying his
acceptance, as it contains facts which are important as history,
which reads as follows :

" To the Baptist Church of Mipdletown.

Bear £Mkren9 — Matters have been so arranged in the
Kingdom of God's Providence, that we held an interview together

93

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

a little more than a year ago, at which time I received an invitation
by Deaeon Smith, who was then a part of the standing committee
of the church to provide preaching, to come and preach with them
a certain time. Some time after I returned home I received a
letter from Deacon Smith signifying that the church fully concurred
with him in inviting me to come. Accordingly I set out, and on
the 24th of March last, I arrived safe at this place ; and after
preaching five months here I have received an invitation to take
the pastoral charge of this church and society. The invitation on
the part of the church was signed by Deacon Smith, on the part of
the society by Jonas Clark..

In the first place I would present ray most hearty thanks to the
church and society for the kind respect with which they have
treated me, and I acknowledge with much gratitude the kind treat-
ment I have received from the Congregational church and
society.

In answering the church ■ and society, I shall give some of the
considerations which have influenced me in accepting your call.

Sylvanus Haynes."

Mr. Haynes was ordained soon after this — August 26th, IT 90,
— and remained as the pastor of the church until 1817, a period
of twenty-seven years. The Baptist society bought a piece of land
for him of Captain Joseph Spaukling, the same now owned by
Reuben Mehurin, and Mr. Haynes commenced living on it in a
log house. Besides attending to his pastoral duties, he did a good
deal of work on his land.

During the ministry of Mr. Haynes in this place the Baptist
church and society were prosperous. Mr. Haynes left this town
in 1817, and vrent to western New York. He left before my rec-
ollection. I never knew him, but from all I have heard of him
from the old people, of both his own and other denominations, I
had formed this opinion of him. viz : That he was a faithful minis-
ter of the gospel, was successful in his labors here, and was a man
of fair education and abilities. But from some investigation I have
made during the last few months, I should be inclined to put a

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 99

higher estimate upon his abilities, than the impressions I had
received from the old people here would permit me to do. I find
he was the author of several religious works, which at the time
gave him a good reputation as a writer in his denomination. He
preached the election sermon before the legislature of Vermont in
October, 1809. That sermon was printed by a vote of the legis-
lature, I have recently seen a copy of it and read it. If my
judgment can be relied on, it is a very able, appropriate and well
written document.

To Mr. Haynes belongs the honor of being the first settled min-
ister of the baptist church, and the first minister settled in Mid-
dletown. He preached in the log meeting house and at private
houses until, what has since been known as the Congregational
house was completed in 1796, when he preached in that until the
Baptist house was built in 1806. .

After Mr. Haynes left Rev. Seth Ewens supplied the church
about two years.

Rev. Isaac Bucklin was settled over the baptist church in 1821,
and was the pastor until 1828, when he removed from here.

Rev. Mr. Fuller, Rev. Linus J. Reynolds and Rev. G. B. Day,
each preached here between 1828 and 1832. The Rev. Mr.
Day was ordained here. He was a very zealous man, and was
here during the revival in 1831. There were on one day in
September, 1831, thirty-six persons baptized and received into
the church.

Rev. Mr. Soullard next preached in this church. He was here
about three years, and went to Pawlet sometime in 1837, where he
now resides. He has since given his attention mostly to farming.

Rev. Mr. Haskell/ formerly connected with the Literary and
Theological Institution of New York, followed Mr. Soullard, but
only preached here about six months.

Rev. E. B. Bullard was the next minister here. He came in
1839 and remained about two years. He was a brother of George
W. Bullard, who more recently resided here. He was" well edu-
cated, and a very devoted man. After leaving here he went to
Birmah as a missionary, and died there.

100

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

Rev. Robert Myers preached here about four years, commenc-
ing some time in the year 1841. Soon after leaving this town he
became a lawyer, but is now again in the ministry.

Rev. R. 0. Dwyer came here about 1846, and preached about
three years. Mr. Dwyer was a well meaning man, and doubtless
designed to discharge his duty faithfully as a minister of the gos-
pel. He removed to a place near Saratoga, N. Y. He became a
chaplain in one of the New York regiments in the war of 1861,
and died in the service of his country. His only son was a soldier
in the same regiment, and was killed in battle about the time of
his father's death.

. Rev. M. J. Smith preached here in 1849 and 1850, While'Mr.
Smith was here the Baptist society thoroughly repaired their house
of worship. Mr. Smith has since died.

Rev. J. J. Peck followed him, and preached here two or three
years.

Rev. Beriah N. Leach, D. D.5 removed to this town in 1855,
and was pastor of the Baptist church about five years. Mr. Leach
is a native of this town, and went into the ministry as early as
1S19. During the time of his ministry, he was for s^me years
principal of an academy in western New York. He now resides
in Middletown, Conn., where .he has heretofore spent a portion of
the time of his ministry. Since Mr. Leach left, Rev. Mr. Fren-
year preached here a while. Rev, Thomas Tobin is the present
minister.

After the death of Deacon Smith and Deacon Ford, Jonathan
Barce was elected to that office which he held until his death
which was about 1847. Beriah Newland, Jeremiah Rudd, Spen-
cer Nicholson, Benajah Mallary, Peleg Seamans and Nathaniel
Clift, have each held the office of deacon. Alpheus ITaynes was
elected and ordained a deacon of the Baptist church in 1836, and
has held the office since. He is at present the only deacon in the
church. Of the clerks there have been Thomas McClure, Jona-
than Barce, David G. McClure, Harry B. McClure, David Spaf-
ford, Robert R. Woodward, and Ira Frost, who is the present
clerk.

•HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

101

The resident members by the last official returns are fifty-three ;
non-resident members twenty-one.

There was a sabbath school organized about the year 1821,
which was a union school of the Baptists and Congregationalists.
Some time after that each denomination organized a school of its
own, and have kept them up since.

METHODIST.

The first methodist who preached in this town was the Bev.
Labon Clark. The time Mr. Clark preached here, hereinbefore
appears in his letter. It also appears that then there was but one
methodist family in town.

As early as 1815 there was a class formed in " Burnam Hollow,"
in the west part of the town. Cyril Leach, a brother of Rev. B.
N. Leach, was the leader of the class. At one time there was a
goodly number of members in the class. Mrs. Willard and Mrs.
Lefimgwell, daughters of John Burnam, were members of it, also
Mrs. Nye, and others. They had preaching occasionally by cir-
cuit preachers, in the school houses in that part of the town. The
last years of the existence of this class it was not as well sustained.
The present Methodist Episcopal church and society in Middletown
had its beginning as follows: In 1834 a class was formed in the
village by Anthony Bice, consisting of James Germond and wife,
and Samuel Hathaway and wife. Soon afterwards John Gray and
wife were added to the class, and James Germond was appointed
class leader. This class commenced holding meetings in the
school house in the village, but from some cause were obliged to
leave that place and hold their meetings at private houses.

In 1835 the society was formed, which will appear from the fol-
lowing record :

" We, the subscribers, inhabitants of the town of Middletown,
in the county of Rutland, and State of Vermont, do hereby volun-
tarily associate and agree to form a society by the name of the
Methodist Episcopal Society of Middletown, county and state
aforesaid, for the purpose of purchasing a situation for, and buiid-
' in £ a meeting house, according to the first section of an act enti-

102

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

tied " an act for the support of the gospel" passed October 26th.
1798.

In vritness whereof we have hereunto severally set our hands..

Eli Oatman,
Samuel Young,
Marcus Stoddard,
Samuel Hathaway,
Charles Lamb,
James Gbrmond,
Nath'l "VY. Martin,
Justus Barker, .
John Gray."

. Dated at Middletown, this 23th day of November, A. D. 1835."

The meeting house contemplated in the foregoing, was built in
the year 1837. It was built with a basement for a town room,
but the town have since surrendered their claim to it for that pur-
pose. The house was dedicated by Rev. John Weaver, then a
presiding elder, in the winter of 1838. Samuel Young was the
first preacher in the charge of this society.

April 16th, A. I). 1842, a Sabbath School was formed, and by
the constitution, which appears in the handwriting of James Ger-
raond, was called the Methodist Episcopal Sabbath School, in
Middletown. The officers under that constitution, for that year
(1842) were :

Superintendent, — Lucius Abbott,

Librarian.— IImkyfs Hoadley.

Secretary and Treasurer.— J AXES Germond.

Visiting Committee.— John Fitch, M. Smith, Eiisha Rogers, P.
Germond,L L. W. Winslow, J. Wiilard, P. H Smith, A. J. Hoad-
ley, A. Hyde, M, Woodworth, James Germond, E. Stoddard.

Teachers. — Eiisha Rogers, P. Germond, J. Darling, E. Marshall,
Charles Lamb, L. Doughty, Justus Barker, L. Bumam, A. Hyde,
H. Babcoek.

The Methodist society in Middletown, like the other religious
denominations here, have had its seasons of prosperity and adver-
sity. They gained rapidly on the start. By the time their house

' HISTORY OF MIBDLETOWN. 103

of worship was completed in the winter of 1838, they had a con-
gregation nearly or quite as large as either of the other denomin-
ations, and they have since kept it up nearly as large. That
society have been unfortunate in loosing many of their prominent
and useful members by death.

James Germoncl, their first class leader — the leader of their
singing — and a faithful laborer until he died, in October, 1855.
He was a quiet, unassuming man, yet to him perhaps more than
any other the Methodist Episcopal church is indebted for their rise
and early progress.

John Fitch was a local preacher, and removed from Pawlet, his
native place, to Middletown as early as 1838, where he resided,
until February, 1859, when he died. Mr. Fitch was never the
preacher in charge, but took an active part in the affairs of the
church, and a considerable portion of the time supplied the desk.
He will be long remembered by those of that church who have
survived him, as an earnest, zealous laborer in his Master's vine-
yard.

In 1862, when the Rev. EL D. Hitchcock was the preacher in
charge, the methodist house was thoroughly repaired, and like the
Baptist and Congregational houses of worship, is now in good con-
dition. Whiting Merrill was very active in procuring the repairs
on the meeting house, contributed largely of his means, and
did much by way of procuring subscriptions, and superintending
the work. Mr. Merrill seemed to have, this work much at heart ;
he succeeded in getting it completed in accordance with his wishes
and tastes ; but in three short years, he was called to take up his
abode in that house not made with hands. Mr. Merrill commenced
life a poor boy, but by his diligence, industry, good economy and
good management had secured a competence. He had hardly
passed the prime of life when he died. Mr. Merrill had for some
years been the leader of a claas. Joseph Banister was appointed
to £11 his place, and served but a few months when he took his
departure for the better land.

The present preacher in charge is the Be v. George Sutton.

I do not pretend to give more than a mere outline of the history

104

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

of the churches in Middletowih My limits will not permit of my
doing more than that, and perhaps I have hardly clone that, but
enough has been given, I hope, to encourage others to do the work
more thoroughly.

The ecclesiastical history of the town will afford matter for
useful reflection and study. Scarce any subject aside from the
truths of the Bible is more worthy of our attention, or would
prove of greater utility. It is true there are some unpleasant
things in connection with the history of each of the churches
here, but we must expect those will occur in these and all other
churches. I cannot but feel that great good has been accom-
plished by the churches here. I have no time for remarks, but
allow me to say that^we would clo well to bear this in mind ;
that our religious institutions are the hope of our country ; that
unless we can sustain them, we may as well surrender all the
institutions of society and government, and go at once into anarchy
and confusion. But we shall not do that. Y\tq shall, I trust, sus-
tain our churches ; all our religious institutions ; and may we not
with profit to ourselves, study the examples of our fathers and
mothers who founded these churches ; and would it not be for our
interest, and the interest of the Kedeemer's cause, that we should
return to their zeal, their faithfulness, their devotedness and their
standard of piety. From these three churches, small though they
are, members are every year going from them to other parts of
the land. They carry with them the influences, the impressions,
the education you give them. You have sent out no less than
eight ministers from these churches, who were natives of the town,
one as a missionary to foreign lands. Many others who have gone
from here are holding prominent positions in different churches in
the far west and other places. Why then should not these
churches be sustained, and with the blessing of God continue to
do their part of the work in hastening that time, " when all shall
know the Lord."

From 1820 to 1840 the population of the town remained about
the same ; there was a little falling off, but no essential difference.
As we look back within this period we find but few left of the first

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 105

settlers of the town, and those few have retired from active life.
The active men then here consisted of the descendants of the pio-
neers, and of men who had more recently removed here. Among
the then active men here were Jonas Clark, Hezekiah Haynes,
Jonathan Morgan, Eli Oatman, Roswell Buel, David and Levi
Mehurin, Stephen Keyes, Jaaz. and Stephen Barrett, Merritt
and Horace Clark, Allen and Micah Vail, Luther Buxton, Anson
Rogers, Alonzo Hyde, James Germond, Justus Barker, Thaddeus
Terrill, Reuben Loomis, Smith Wait, John P. Taylor, Menira
Caswell and Henry Gray.

That class of men seemed to have been the connecting link
between the past and the present — that is, between the early set-
tlement of the town and the present time. They were in the
main, as well those named, as others then living here and not
named, a substantial class of men.

Janzaniah Barrett was lor many years a merchant here. He
owned and lived in the house now owned by M. E. Vail, Esq., in
which he and his family now reside. That house was built by
Amasa Squires not long after 1800, and was for many years occu-
pied as a hotel, by Jeremiah Leffingwell and a Mr. Monroe. The
store occupied by Mr, Barrett was the one, until recently, occupied
by Mr. Vail, which has been taken down and removed. Mr. Bar-
rett for many years did a large business as a merchant, and in
buying and selling cattle and farm produce ; the latter was much
more to the advantage of the farmers than for him.

Allen and Micah Vail removed from Danby to this town about
the year 1810 ; raised up large families here, and during their
residence here, were among the leading and successful farmers.
They are both dead, and but one representative from each family
now remains here ; Mrs. E. Ross, a daughter of Allen Vail, and
M. E. Vail, a son of Micah Vail.

Henry Gray was perhaps as long an active business man as any
other man who has ever lived in the town since the days of John
Burnam. Mr. Gray was an unusually energetic and persevering
man. He suffered many losses by fire and other casualties, but
was full of life, hope and animation — almost to the day of his
death — which occurred in June, 18G5, at the age of seventy-eight

106 HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

years. From the days of the Burnam and the Miners, until a recent
period, Henry Gray was almost the sole proprietor of all the mills
in town, and machinery propelled by water power. Mr. Gray was
long a member of the Congregational society, and contributed lib-
erally to its support.

During the period of which I have last been speaking, viz,
between 1820 and 1840, there was a change, a great change, going
on in the industrial efforts of the people ; it was a change which
severed our connection with the good old times and left them behind
us— the times when the ox yokes, the ox bows, the whip stocks,
and other necessary implements, were made in the long evenings
before a blazing fireplace — the times when he was considered the
best manager who did " everything within himself" — the times
when, as the men worked, the hum of the little linen wheel, or the
large wheel for spinning wool, or the rattle of the shuttle and treads
in the loom mingled with the crackle of the fire and the sounds of
the axe and drawing knife, As some one has written : " the
women then picked their own wool, carded their own rolls, spun
their own yarn, drove their own looms, made their own cloth, cut,
made and mended their own garments, clipped their own candles,
made their own soap, bottomed their own chairs, braided their own
baskets, wove their own carpets, quilts and coverlids, picked their
own geese, milked their ov>Tn cows, fed their own calves, and wrent
visiting or to meeting on their own feet, and all this with much
less fuss and ado than our modern ladies make when they are sim-
ply obliged to oversee the work of an ordinary household in these
days.''

But we cannot return to those days in the way of doing "every-
thing within ourselves," nor is it best for the women now to under-
take the manufacture of their own cloth, or to do much other work
that was formerly done by their sex ; with the advance of the
present age in machinery and labor-saving implements, it would be
a waste of time. But we would do well, both men and women, to
return to the industry of those times It must be conceded that
both men and women (especially women) have wonderfully degen-
erated in their physical capacity since these good old times, and
all are agreed as to the cause of it. Men and women were made

HISTOKY OP MIDBLETOWH". 107

to labor, and unless they do, they violate the laws of their phys-
ical constitutions. If we desire to have the next generation robust
and healthy, there is a way to effect it, and that is for the present
generation to occupy their time steadily and reasonably in manual
• labor.

In the financial revulsion of 1839, many farmers and others in
Middletown, suffered severely. Many were largely in debt,
the M credit system " which was then a system for everybody
proved disastrous to many industrous and honest men in Mid-
dletown. Soon after 1840 the business in the town seemed to
be on the decline. Merritt Clark had removed to Poultney;
Horace Clark, also Janzaniab. Barrett, had gone out of the mer-
cantile business ; the building of railroads through the State
had come to be agitated, and it was becoming evident, that no
line of railroad would pass through Middletown ; large farmers
were enlarging their borders, and small farmers were selling out
and going west. The consequence was that from 1840 to 1850
the population of the town fell off about two hundred, and up to
1860 there was no gain in population. By the census of I860,
we had only seven hundred and twelve inhabitants. Since 1860
there must have been a gain in the number of inhabitants, as some
business interests have recently sprung up here, and altogether the
town is improving. The town is essentially an agricultural town
and must continue so to be. There is no better soil for that pur-
pose in Rutland county. Keeping a dairy is now the main busi-
ness of most of. the farmers. The Middletown Cheese Manufac-
turing Company was organized in the spring of 1864, and proceeded
at once to erect buildings for the purpose of manufacturing cheese.
The manufacturing room is twenty-six feet square ; the curing
house is a two story building, seventy-two feet long and thirty feet
wide. The making of cheese commenced in the summer of 1864,
and has been in successful operation ever since, and has much
increased the farming interest and the value of real estate in the
town. The capital stock of the company is $4,600. The number
of pounds of milk received at the factory the last season (1866)
was 1,707,814. Number of pounds of cheese made from the

108

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

same, when cured, was 173,970 ; and the gross receipts for the
same was §30,383 19.

Most of the farmers in Middletown are now in comfortable cir-
cumstances, mostly out of debt, and many of them are money
lenders. In respect to thrift and good management they have
much improved from the farmers of twenty-five years ago. There
are here now two stores. " The Clark Store," has recently been
fitted up in modern style by the proprietor, M. E, Vail, and well
filled with a choice assortment of goods ; the other store adjoining
the tavern house has recently been purchased by A. W. Gray &
Sons, and is now undergoing through repairs, and will probably
soon be in " running order." There are here the requisite num-
ber of mechanic shops, a manufactory of wagons and carriages by
the McClures , of agricultural implements by E. W. Gray, and of
horse powers by A. W. Gray & Sons. These manufactories are
remunerative to the proprietors, and add much to the material
interests of the town, and especially the horse power manufactory.
A. W. Gray k Sons have in their employ about thirty men — men
who are needed in the town—many of whom could not get employ-
ment here as mechanics except at that establishment. The con-
cern furnishes quite a market for the farm produce in town, and for
lumber. The springing up of this establishment, after nearly all
other manufacturing in the town had ceased, or was waning, is
exceedingly fortunate for the town. A. W. Gray was the inventor
of the horse power now manufactured by A. W. Gray & Sons.
He was formerly a millwright, learned his trade of Henry Gray,
but had given a good deal of his time for some years, previous to
1856, to inventing.

The horse powers manufactured by the Messrs. Grays find a
ready sale, and are without doubt great labor-saving machines.
They are used for sawing wood, threshing and other purposes, and
are undoubtedly superior to anything of the kind now in use.
They are sent to all parts of the country, and the proprietors might,
if they desired very much, extend their business.

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

109

TOWN CLERKS

OF MlDDLETOWN FROM ITS ORGANIZATION TO THE PRESENT TIME.

Joseph Eockwll,

from

1784

to

1799

Nathaniel "Wood, Jr.,

a

1799

a

1802

Orson Brewster,

(C

1802

a

1812

Jabez Joslin,

it

1812

tt

1813

Orson Brewster,

it

1813

tt

1815

Barker Frisbie,

it

1815

tt

1821

Dyer Lefeingwell,

a

1821

it

1822

Cyrus Adams,

a

1822

tt

1829

Eliakim Paul, -

a

1829

a

1836

Orson. Clark,

ti

1836

tt

1842

Luther Filmore,

tt

1842

n

1845

Adin H. Gkeen,

it

1844

a

1847

Eliakim Paul, -

a

1847

a

1849

Adin H. Green,

a

1849

a

1852

Elijah Ross,

it

1852

a

1856

Barnes Frisbie,

ti

1856

it

1860

Elijah Eoss,

it

1860

tt

1861

Geo. W. Bullard,

a

1861

a

1863

Elijah Eoss,

44

1863

tt

1865

Moses E. Vail,

a

1865

tt

1866

Elijah Eoss, "

a

1866

tt

1867

Erwln Haskins was elected March, 1867, and is the present
Town Clerk.

110

HISTORY OF MLDDLETOWN.

List of Representatives in Middletown from the organ-
ization OF THE TOWN TO THE PRESENT TIME — 1867.

Joseph Spaulding,

from

1785 to 1788

JOHN BURNAM, -

1788

Epkraiii Care,

from

1788 to 1792

Jonathan Brewster,

1792

Nathaniel Wood,

1793

Jonathan Brewster,

1791

John Bernam,

1795

Jonathan Brewster,

1796

John Burnham,

from

1796 to 1799

Nathaniel Wood, Jr.,

1799 to 1804

John Burnam,

1804

Dyer Lefeingwell,

from

IS04 to 1807

John Buenam,

1807

Jonas Clark, Jr.,

from

1807 to 1810

Jacob Burnam,

1810

Jonas Clark,

from

1810 to 1823

Dayid G. McClure,

a

1823 to 1829

Allen Vail,

1829

Eliakih Paul, -

from

1829 to 1832

Merritt Clark, -

tc

1832 to 1834

Orson Clark,

c<

1834 to 1836

Eliakxm Paul, -

a

1S3G to 1838

Jonathan Morgan, -

1838

Merritt Clark, -

1S39

Eliaklvl Paul,

from

1839 to 3842

C. B. Harrington,

a

1842 to JS44

Horace Clark,

t«

1844 to 1846

HISTORY OF M1DDLETOWN.

Ill

C. B. Harrington, - - 1846

Harris G. Otis, - 1847

¥ji. K Gray, - from 1847 to 1850

Eoswell Buel,Jr., - - 1850

Eliakim Paul, - from 1850 to 1853

Jacob Burnam, - - 1853

Barnes Frisbie, - - from 1853 to 1856

Lucius Copeland, - " 1856 to 1858

C. P. Cot, - - " 1858 to 1860

Eoswell Buel, - " 1860 to 1862

Nathaniel Cliff, - 1862 to 1864

Harley Spaulding* - " 1864 to 1866

A. W. Gray, - - 1866 to 1867

112

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

SOLDIERS' RECORD.

A.j.t6r the foit/j^oiii g history of Middle town was written and read
to the people there, the town instructed their selectmen, at their
last March meeting, to engage me to make up a soldiers' record of
the town for the year 1861. I removed from Middletown to
Poultney in April, 1863, and consequently did not live in Middle-
town during the entire period of the war, but with the assistance
of the selectmen and others I have collected all I could that was
deemed material for such a record. With a simple statement of
facts, Middletown has a record of which her citizens may well be
proud. They promptly met the emergency — raised the money
and the men, from time to time, as they were required, and not-
withstanding the great outlay required to pay the large bounties
and large taxes, when the war closed, the town had paid every
dollar, so that the war closed without any war debt upon Middle-
town. The town paid in bounties more than they were legally
bound to do. They paid in all §6,609. Two of her soldiers,
Merritt Perham and Harvey Guilder, re-enlisted to the credit of
the town without any contract with the authorities ; previous to
this the town had been paying a bounty of five hundred dollars —
a meeting was called and the sum of §500 each was voted to them
and paid.

In proportion to the number subject to military duty, a large
number enlisted into the service from the town. In the summer
of 1863 the roll of men subject to be drafted from numbered fifty-
eight. During the period of the war there were fifty-one enlisted
into the service from Middletown — some ten or twelve more thou
was required to fill the quotas of the town.

To the credit of the town it may be said, that those who went
into the service, were, most of them, at least, from among the best

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

113

families of the town. They were not bounty-jumpers, nor of that
class of low, wreckless and abandoned young men, too many of
whom were picked up by most of the towns and made to count on
their quotas ; but hardly without an exception they were young
men of good moral character, intelligent, and with a good common
education, and for the most part with good, hardy physical consti-
tutions. No one of them ever deserted, or were court-martialed
for any offence, and but one or two received even a censure
for violation of rules. They proved to be brave and faithful
soldiers ; a large proportion of them served out the time for which
they enlisted, and returned to their homes to be again useful and
respected citizens ; some never returned ; four or five were killed
in battle, or died from wounds received ; eleven died of disease.

To William Schollar is due the credit of being the first man
who enlisted from Middletown in the war of 1861. He enlisted
under the call of the President for seventy-five thousand men, and
went into company E of the first regiment of Vermont volunteers
for three months. He served his time out, and afterwards enlisted
into Harris' light cavalry, an organization got up in the state of
New York. Affer several months service in this cavalry organ-
ization, his health failed and he received an honorable discharge.
He returned home, regained his health, and in 1863 enlisted into
the tenth Vermont regiment, in which, he served to the close of
the war. He held the office of sargeant in company C, tenth
Vermont, and was a faithful soldier.

The next who enlisted from Middletown were Frank Carrigan
and Merritt Perham. They enlisted into the second Vermont
regiment, which were mustered into the service June 20th, 1861.
Carrigan after serving a while was found missing ami has never
been heard of since. It is supposed that he is dead ; Perham
served his time out (three years) and re-enlisted into the seventh
Vermont and served to the end of the war.

Stephen A. Griswold, Edwin Higgins, Samuel Buxton, Harvey
Guilder, enlisted into the seventh Vermont, which regiment was
mustered into the service February 12th, 1862. Stephen A.
Griswold died at Peusacola, Florida, November 3d, 1862, of fever.
He was a very strong, muscular young man, but had the measles

114

HISTORY OP MIDDLETOWN.

after he enlisted, and before he was mustered in, took cold, and it
is thought by his friends that he was never well afterwards, though
he performed good service as a soldier until a short time prior to
his death. He was the only son of the widow of David Griswold,
on whom she doubtless relied for support in her declining years.
Edwin Higgins, of the same regiment, died near New Orleans.
We have not the date of his death, but it was after Griswold died,
and while he, Higgins, was in the service. He was the oldest son
of Orrin Higgins, who served in the tenth Vermont regiment.
Buxton and Guilder served to the end of the war, and were hon-
orably discharged.

Royal Lucien Coleman enlisted into the ninth Vermont, June
9th, 1863, and died (ctober 3d, 1864, so that he was in the ser-
vice a year and some months. He was a son of Harry Coleman,
who was a brother of Royal Coleman T Esq., of this town.

There were a large number enlisted from Middletown into the
tenth Vermont regiment, and all went into company C of that
regiment. The regiment was mustered into the service September
1st, 1862. Prior to that time, Edwin R. Buxton, Aden N. Green,
Erwin Haskins, Charles H. Dayton, Henry Barce, Alonzo -\ (water,
William Hoadley, Francis II . Hoadlcy, Curtis Howard, Henry J.
Langzine, Harlan P. Lefhngwell, Arunah Leflingwell, John H.
Lewis, Warren McChire, William Schollar, William H. H. Thomp-
son, Philander C. Wetmore, Robert A. Woodward and Edward
Holton, had enlisted and were mustered into the service with the
regiment — making nineteen who were mustered in with the regi-
ment. In December, 1868, James N. Buel, Lorenzo Ford, Allen
Hubbard, Jr., Orrin Higgins and Charles W. McClure enlisted,
and went into company C, of the tenth Vermont, making, in all,
twenty-four of the Middletown boys in that regiment. They all
enlisted for three, years, or during the war, and Buxton, Green,
Barce, Atwater, William and Francis Hoadley, Howard, Langzine,
Harlan P. Leflingwell, Warren and Cartes W. McClure, Schol-
lar, Wetmore, Woodward, Hubbard and Hi-gins, seventeen of the
twenty-four, served out their time, were honorably discharged, and
returned to their homes, vita the exception of Henry Barce, who
was

taken sick after his discharge, and died near Washington on

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

115

his way home. Erwin Haskins was taken sick in the fall after his
enlistment, and rnn down so low that he barely had strength to
get home. He was discharged "December 19th, 1862. On his
return home, contrary to the expectations of all who saw him, he
gradually recovered, until now he is comparatively well again.
Arunah Lefiingwell was taken sick and discharged about the same
time, returned home and has since recovered his health. John II.
Lewis was wounded by a ball through the thigh at Winchester on
the 19th day of September, 1864, went to the hospital, and
remained there until he was discharged. He was in the hard
fought battles of the Wilderness, Cold Harbor and Spottsylvania,
was a good soldier, and manfully performed his duty until dis-
abled by the wound above named. The first death of the boys of
the tenth, from Middletown, was that of Charles H. Dayton. He
died September 26th, 1862, near Washington — less than one
month after his rednient was mustered into the service. He was
the son of Mrs. Jay B. Norton, by her former husband, Doctor J.
II. Dayton, and was but eighteen years old when he enlisted, and
had been regarded as a high spirited boy, but had come to show
some good traits of character, and was, withal, in his last years,
looked upon by those who knew him as a promising young man.
He was sick only about one week. His remains were brought
home and interred in Middletown by the side of those of his father ;
and thus we have an instance, among thousands of others in the
country, where the hope of a fond mother has perished by the sad
results of the wicked rebellion.

Edward Bolton was in the service nearly a year. He was a son
of Garrett Holton, an Irishman, and a very respectable man, who
has since deceased. Edward died of disease August 15th, 186.3,
at the age of twenty-one years, His comrades give him the credit
of being a good soldier, and of faithfully performing his duty as
long as he was able.

Henry Baree, as we have before mentioned, served his time out
and was on his way home when he was taken sick, of fever, and
died June 17th, 1865, at the age of twenty-six. His health was
good through his entire term of service, from the first of Septem-
ber, 1862, until the close of the war. He never failed of being

116

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

able to perform his duty as a soldier, was in all of the battles in
■which the tenth were engaged during the war, and of his sagacity
and bravery, his associates all speak in the highest terms. He
was a still, quiet young man, but strong, athletic, decided and
prompt in acting, and possessed more education and knowledge
than any other person of his age in the town, when he enlisted.
He leaves a sister and distant relatives to mourn his loss.

Wm, H, H. Thompson, a cousin of Henry Barce, was taken
prisoner at Falls Church, when Culpepper was evacuated by our
forces, and died in Libby Prison, at .Richmond, in the winter of
1864. His loss seemed to his associates more sad than if he had
been killed in battle.

James jN". Buel enlisted in December, 1863, and was killed at
Cold Harbor June 1st, 1864. He lay at the time, with others of
his company, behind a log in front of the enemy watching their
chances to deliver their fire upon the rebel sharp shooters, in the
vicinity, when Buel, anxious to " get a shot at the rebs." raised
his head high enough to receive a ball in the head, which killed
him instantly ; and thus perished a brave soldier — one who had
been an industrious man and a good citizen at home, and doubtless
would have been again if he had been permitted to return. Mr.
Buel was forty years old ; he left a wife and two children. He
was a son of Roswell Buel, Sen., who has since died.

Lorenzo Ford enlisted December 10th, 1863, and died in the
army hospital at Brandy Station, in Virginia, of fever, March
16th, 1864. He had good health when he enlisted, and his health
had generally been good. He was not sick very long ; performed
his duty faithfully as a soldier, for the little time he was in the
service. His age was twenty-six ; he left a widow and one child.
His widow has since married in Michigan, and his child lives with
her aunt, Mrs. Bassett, in Middletown. He was a son of Joel
Ford.

Ail who know the history of the war of 1861, well know that
the tenth Vermont regiment had the reputation of being one of
the best regiments in the army. Officers of high rank, who were
witnesses of their bravery, their endurance and skill, and then-
reliability in trying times, have invariably spoken of the tenth

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

117

Yermont in the highest terms. If the regiment was made up of
as good material as that part of it from Middletown, (and I do not
know why it was not,) surely those encomiums of the officers were
well bestowed. We have this foundation for saying what we have
of the boys from Middletown, in the tenth. We knew them all —
most of them intimately — and know that mentally, morally and
physically, with very few exceptions, they were of a material which
makes the best of soldiers ; and we heard from them in the war ,
not only from themselves, in speaking of the conduct of each
other in the many hard fought fields, but we heard facts from
others, soldiers and officers, who were there and had no interest to
give us anything but facts.

There are many incidents that might be here given that would
perhaps interest those who may read this sketch, and go to prove
what we have asserted, but we must omit them for want of time.

Edwin E. Buxton, Aden H. Green and William Sehollar, rose
from the ranks to sargeants of their company, and they, with
.Barce, Lewis, Howard, Buel, Hubbard, Woodward and Charles
McClure, were particularly distinguished for their fearless dis-
charge of duty. Buxton, Green and Woodward each received
wounds. Buxton and Green were hit by balls several times, and
Buxton, in the fight at Cold Harbor, was obliged to leave the field,
and was unable to perform duty for several days afterwards.
Woodward received a wound on the foot at the same time, which
disabled him for a short time.

Warren McClure was detailed for hospital service soon after his
regiment was mustered in, where he remained on duty until he
went into the tenth regiment band. He played a cornet in that
band until the close of the war.

William H. Hoadley was a musician (drummer) from the time
the regiment was mustered into the service until the close of
the war.

The number of battles in which the the tenth regiment were
enlaced, as reported by the Adjutant General, arc thirteen, com-
mencing with Orange Grove, in November, I860, and ending with
Sailors' Creek, in April, 1865. Those embrace the battles of
Grant's campaign, which ended in the fall of Richmond, and the

lis

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

overthrow of the great rebellion. Besides the battles as given by
the Adjutant General in which the tenth were engaged, they were
in numerous skirmishes, in which men were killed and wounded ;
in all these the Middletown boys, m the tenth, who had not been
killed or disabled -by wounds or sickness, bore a part, honorable to
themselves, and efficient in the great work then in hand, viz :
putting down the rebellion.

Middletown sent three good soldiers in the eleventh Vermont
regiment : James Granger, George and James Kilburn. Granger
enlisted in July, 1863, into company M of the eleventh, and was
mustered into the service October 7th, 1863. He was the second
son of the Rev. Calvin Granger, who, at the time of the son's
enlistment, was pastor of the Congregational church in Middle-
town. This regiment was known as the first Vermont artillery,
and enlisted for three years or during the war. Young Granger
was in most of the battles in Grant's campaign, after the battle of
the Wilderness. He was a good soldier ; he has that kind of
philosophy in his mental constitution with which he, under all cir-
cumstances, readily disposes of all causes of fear or alarm. He
served to the end of the war — came out healthy and strong, and
is again at his old trade of machinist as steady as ever.

The Kilburns never returned. George was wounded in action
at Cold Harbor, and died of his wounds July 9th, 1864. James
died of sickness, at Washington, August 22d, 1864. George was
twenty-six years old at the time of his death, and James was
twenty-two. They were good soldiers ; so say their officers, and
their' reliable comrade, James Granger. They were in several
actions, and faced the " music," like brave soldiers. They were
brothers and were .sons of Truman Kilburn. The father, as
Middletown people very well know, has had a large family, but
has done very little himself for the support, of his family. Its is,
therefore one cause of sadness, that the mother of these sons, and
her younger children, should be deprived of the aid of those two
industrious and kind-hearted young men.

- There were two enlisted from Middletown into the 1 2th Vermont
regiment. They were Charles II. Granger and Dclefc B. Haynes.
The regiment was mustered into the service October 4th, 1862,

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

119

and mustered out of the service July 14th, 18G3. Granger and
Haynes enlisted into company K, known as the " Rutland Light
Guard. " Charles II. Granger was the third son of the Rev. Calvin
Granger, and Delet B. Haynes was the oldest son of the Rev.
Aaron Haynes, a Baptist clergyman, then residing in Middletown.
Both served out their time faithfully, and returned again to their
homes. They were never in any action, but, as they said, "it was
not their fault." Their regiment was never called into any action
while in the service.

Middletown sent seven brave, sturdy fellows in the fourteenth
regiment. They were, Homer II. Southwick, Reuben Spaulding,
George Spaulding, Erwin Hyde, William Cairns, Elipkalet Eddy
and John Louis Southwick. The two Spauldings, Hyde and Eddy
served their time ; Cairns was killed at the battle of Gettysburg,
in which they all participated, except Louis, who was discharged
April 2 1st, 1863, by reason of an accidental discharge of fire
arms, which so injured one of his hands as to render him incapable
of doing further serviced Eddy was wounded, at Gettysburg, in
the arm by the bursting of a shell, and has drawn a pension since
he left- the service, but has now nearly recovered the use of his
arm. Homer H. Southwick was a sergeant of company B, and
Erwin Hyde and Reuben Spaulding were corporals. Southwick
had charge of the ambulance corps at Gettysburg, and performed
his duty faithfully and well. He was a good soldier, and so wero
they all, and with the exception of Eddy and Cairns they are all
now m Middletown engaged on farms and in shops, as they were
before the war — the same industrious, peaceful, useful citizens.
Eddy has removed to Michigan. Cairns sleeps on the field at
Gettysburg ; he was an Irishman, but was a young man of intelli-
gence and character, and volunteered, as he said, because he felt
that it was his duty so to do. May he be remembered as one of
the brave boys who sacrificed his life to savo the American f
Republic.

We have now spoken of all who enlisted " to the credit of the
town that is, those named were counted to make up, and di3
make up, the quota of Middletown, but they were not all who gave
their aid in the great struggle. Tho country had the services of

120 - HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

others, and to them we owe a debt of gratitude, and let us here
acknowledge it.

Andrew Perry, Obadiah Cole and John S. Bateman'went from
Middletown and enlisted to the credit of the town of Poultney.
Perry, after a short period of service, was sick, and received his
discharge, and returned home ; Cole and Bateman served to the
end of the war.

There were seven from Middletown who enlisted into regiments
out of the state. These were William and Henry Gift, Joseph
Cary, Robert Parks, William Grover, Martin Y. B. Woodworth
and Horace Green. William Clift enlisted in an Iowa regiment
for three years, and served his time ; Henry into the 111th New
York regiment : both were good soldiers, and left the service under
the assurance from their officers that they had been faithful
servants.

Joseph Cary we have been able to learn but little about. He
was not long a resident of the town. He, with Parks, Grover and
Green enlisted into what was known as the " Harris Light Cav-
alry," as early as August, 18(31*. They were enlisted at Fair-
haven, bat the regiment was a New York regiment, or became
such afterwards. Of those four, three died, two of sickness, and
one from a wound received while in an engagement. Parks died
of the measles. He went into the service a strong, healthy, reso-
lute young man, but after a few months took the measles which
resulted in his death. He was a son cf Robert Parks, Esq., of
Wells, had not lived in Middletown over two or three years prior
to his enlistment, but had lived there long enough to gain the
respect of those who knew him.

William Grover was a son of Calvin, and a young man of good
character. He made a good soldier, and was a good length of
time in the service, but death from disease finally terminated his
existence, and another patriot boy was lost to the service of his
country.

Horace Green was the youngest son of Aden IT. Green, Esq.,
deceased, and a half brother of Aden II. Green of the tenth Yer-
mont. His mother's maiden name was Margaret Bigclow ; she
was the eldest daughter of Rev. Henry Bigelow. Horace was in

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

121

Kilpatrick's cavalry, and was one of the most daring soldiers in
the army. He was wounded on the Danville Railroad, in Vir-
ginia, in June, 1864, and died in Middletown the December fol-
lowing.

Rev. M. M. Martin preached his funeral sermon, from which we
make the following extract :

u Horace Green, whose death has called us together to-day,
enlisted into the United States service on the 30 th of August,
1861. He was in nearly every battle and raid in which the army
of the Potomac was engaged from that time until he received the
wound that caused his death. On the 29th of June, 1862, Gen-
eral Wilson with his command was on his return from a raid on the
Danville Road, when they met the enemy and at twelve o'clock
at night a portion of the cavalry was thown out as skirmishers.
Our friend was among the number, and was shot though the head.
Our forces were obliged to retreat and leave their wounded en the
field. His orderly sergeant was wounded and left on the field
with him, and to him, Horace, was indebted to the lengthening
out of his life, and his return home. "When the enemy were about
to bury Horace alive, the pleading of sergeant Nesbit saved him.
They both remained five days on the field without food or drink.
He died on the 21st of December, 1861. Thus another name is
added to the list of brave martyrs to our country's cause."

It is surprising that the wound which Horace received had not
killed him instantly, and still more surprising that he could, under
the circumstances, have survived five days without food or drink.
A minnie ball went through his head back of his eyes, and
destroyed his sight so that he was not able to see afterwards.
"When he came home he seemed well ; he walked about as he was
led or guided by some friend, and cheerfully conversed with his
former friends and acquaintances. Wre had the pleasure of con-
versing with him two or three times. He evidently had the entire
possession of his mental faculties. His recollection was good, and
as he talked of the incidents of his childhood and youth in that
lively and cheerful manner with which he was wont to do, we could
hardly realize that he had received so terrible a wound. He died

122

HISTORY OE MIDDLETOWN.

suddenly, and with bim departed the last representative of the
Bigelow family in Middletown.

Martin Yan Buren Woodworth, a son of John YVoodworth was
born the fourth of March, 1841. He enlisted in a New York
regiment in the early part of the war. He was wounded by a shell,
near Petersburg, Ya., December 13th, 1862, and died the 29th
of the same month. Martin, when a boy, was awkward and
ungainly in his appearance, but as he approached manhood he
seemed rapidly to develop a more than ordinary intellectual capac-
ity, and good traits of character. He was really, at the time of
his enlistment, a promising young man. His father was poor ;
had a large family; and of course was unable to do but little by
way of educating his children ; but some of them have " made
their mark " in spite of pecuniary embarrassments, and we had
every reason to suppose that Martin would, if he had been spared,
but he was sacrificed with others to save the nation.

Now then, citizens of Middletown, shall we not hold in grateful
remembrances those young men who, on their country's call,
boldly went to the rescue ! Thirty-six of the fifty-one or fifty-two
who volunteered returned — the most of them after a long period
of arduous service — and now a larger portion of that number are
again in your midst, tilling your farms, at work in your shops, are
members of your churches, are among your active and useful citi-
zens, xis we mingle with them in the business of life, shall we
forget that those men have periled their lives for us, and our pos-
terity. It is not claimed that they have any more rights as citi-
zens in the community than others, but, as long as they live, they
should be made to know and feel that their townsmen acknowledge
their services to their lull extent, in the war of 1601 ; anything
short of that from their fellow citizens, would be base ingratitude.
And will you not honor the names of the dead ? Sixteen young
men from the little town of Middletown go to make up the long
list of martyred heroes in the war of 1861. Let those names
be honored and cheiished in your memories, and their noble deeds
be recorded for an example to this and succeeding generations.

To the foregoing we will only add a poem written by Mrs.

HISTORY OF Ml DD LET OWN.

123

Catharine Soutlvwiek, the wife of Sergeant H. H. Southwick.
She is a daughter of Mr. James Germond, deceased.

The poem was written by Mrs. South wick without any intention
of having it published, but at the solicitation of the writer of this
history, she has given us permission to use it, and now we give it
as a literary specimen from the town ; also as a fitting tribute to our
fallen heroes.

m MEMORY OF OUR HEROIC DEAD.

Shall we forget that noble band
Who, with a willing heart and hand,
Went to obey our country's call,
And freely yielded up their all ?
Ah ! no ; the raem'ry of them still
Doth ever cause our hearts to thrill
With grief ; for we remember well
The hour we bade them all farewell.
The first sad news that reached us here,
Since we had shed the parting tear,
Was our friend Parks was cold in death ;
So shocked we were we held our breath,
And thought how short had been the time
Since we received from him a line.
Freighted with words of hope and cheer.
We claimed him as a friend sincere,
And mingled tears were freely shed,
For him among our country's dead.
And Grover, one of that brave band,
Fell far from his own native land ;
He sufFer'd in that sad defeat,
When from Manassas troops retreat ;
His weary life he there laid down,
And changed it for a victor's crown.
Another in that list we find,

124

HISTORY OF MID D LET OWN.

Who now is dead, but first was blind,

Our noble Green, poor sightless boy,

And yet he seem'd so fall of joy,

Amid his suffering and his pain,

We hop'd that he might see again ;

But soon a gloom was o'er us cast,

We heard that he had breath'd his last ;

He's not disturb'd by cannons roar,

With him life's battles now are o'er.

The next to swell the list of men,

Whose regiment was number ten,

Was Dayton, but a slender youth,

Devoted to the cause of truth ;

He scarce had reached a stranger-land,

Ere he was stricken from their band ;

A mother's pride, a mother's joy,

How grieves she for her soldier-boy.

Young Holton, too, gave up his life,

Before he scarce had join'd the strife,

And on a far-off southern shore '

He sleeps a sleep that wakes no more.

Of Thompson, who, alas ! can tell,

Of what he died and where he fell ;

We ne'er shall know till that great day,

When prison walls shall fall away,

And captives shall go forth and reign

Beyond the reach of death and pain.

Then Barce, while he was homeward bound,

Surely a soldier's grave he found,

And though he fell so far away,

Is sleeping now 'neath kindred clay ;

For friends conveyed his body home,

And laid it in its native tomb.

The Kilburn boys their graves have found,

The first, 'twas said, died of a wound ;

The second suffer'd fever long,

Then went to sing a victor's song ;

Their bodies rest far from their home,

All quiet in a soldier's tomb.

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

And still another in this list, —
We hope that we no name shall miss ; —
Our friend and neighbor, Ford, has gone,
While aged parents for him mourn ;
The prop of their declining years,
For him they shed their bitter tears,
But meekly bore the chastening rod,
Believing 'twas the hand of God.
The last among those ranks who fell,
Was our friend, Buel, known so well ;
How aged parents felt that stroke,
As they the mournful tidings broke
To her, his sad and weeping wife,
That he had fallen in the strife ;
Thou need'st not mourn for him as lost,
For he fell bravely at his post.
In the ninth regiment was one
Whose earthly race was early ran ;
Young Coleman's, sufferings were great,
He shar'd with them a prisoner's fate ;.
His life, his all, he freely gave,
He sleeps among the good and "brave.
A smaller company went out,
Of nine months' men, all brave and stout
Disease and death walked in their van,
But they survived, all but one man.
At Gettysburg brave Cams did fall,
A victim to the cannon's ball ;
Though none can trace his lowly bed,
He sleeps among our honor'd dead.
The seventh regiment had three,
Who, after a long voyage at sea,
Fell, and were laid by stranger-hand
In graves beueath the burning sand ;
Griswold and Heap, and Higgins, too,
Have prov'd themselves to country true ;
For near Miss'ippi's rolling tide,
They nobly fought and nobly died.
Young Schollar and the Hubbard'* went,

HISTORY OF MIBDLETOWN.

We cannot name their regiment ;

But they have shar'd the same sad fate.

And kindred feel their loss is great ;

They rest, but the brave deeds they've done,

Have lasting honors for theni won.

A Woodworth fell, we know not where,

Of honor, he deserves a share ;

For he hath sacrificed his life,

A victim to the deadly strife ;

His cold remains, to kindred dear,

Are sleeping in the church-yard here.

"\Ye now desire, before we close

This tale of war, with all its woes,

To speak our gratitude of heart

To those who bravely took a part

In this great struggle for the right,

And labor'd with their mind and might.

God save you and reward you all,

Since you obey'd your country's call ;

And when this transient life is o'er,

May you join brave ones gone before ;

Your deed of honor and renown,

Shall win for you a fadeless crown.

C. B. Soutiiwick.

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

127

APPENDIX.

Since the foregoing was written, Henry Clark, Esq., the Secre-
tary of the Vermont Senate, has furnished me with some items
from the State lieeords, which are important in connection with
the history of Middle town, and which I herewith append ; also I
find on reading the proof sheets from the printer, that some few
important items written by me and read to the people in Middle-
town, either by my carelessness or the printers, (probably mine,)
have not been printed. Among them is a biographical sketch of
Doctor Eliakim Paul. As that part of the original manuscript has
been mislaid or lost, and as I have no time to procure dates, etc.,
I must hastily supply it the best I can.

Doctor Eliakim Paul is the son of Stephen Paul, who died in
T7ells some twenty years since. He was a farmer, and lived from
an early day in that part of Wells, formerly known as the " Lillie
neighborhood,'' Eliakim, when a boy, worked on a farm, but from
a misfortune, when a child, he was made a cripple for life ; and for
that reason became a physician. He received his diploma at the
Castleton Medical College in 1822, and immediately bought out Dr.
David G. MeClure, then in practice in Middletown, and from that
time to the present Doctor Paul lias been a practicing physician
here, and, a portion of the time, the only physician. For a period
of full forty-five years, a little over one half of the time since the
town had a corporate existence, Doctor Paul has traveled over the
hills and valleys of Middletown and vicinity, administering to the
wants of the sick. He has deservedly had the reputation of being
a «-ood physician, and hundreds of us who have had his services
in the healing art, will not forget his prompt and faithful attention
to us when we have called on him. Doctor Paul has represented

128

HISTORY OP MipBLETOWK.

Middletown in the Vermont House of Representatives eight years,
and been town clerk eight years, and has, from the time he
"became a resident of the town, fully identified . himself with its
interests. He will be remembered as one of the most useful citi-
zens of his time. Doctor Paul has had three children, Sabra R.,
Emmet and Daniel W. Sabra married Edwin Copeland, and has
recently died ; Emmet died in 1845, at the age of nineteen ;
Daniel W. graduated at Harvard College, studied law, and was
for some years in partnership with Edwin Edgerton, Esq., at Rut-
land, but is now in successful practice in St. Louis.

Doctor Paul's health lias been poor for some little time past, so
much so that he has -nearly relinquished the practice of his pro-
fession.

There are now two other physicians in Middletown, Doctor 0.
F. Thomas and Doctor S. H. Haynes, and each are doing a good
business. Doctor Thomas has been in practice since about 1836,
but several years cf the former part of the time in Western New
York. Doctor Haynes has been in practice since about 1841.

I find that I have said nothing of the part the citizens of Mid-
dletown took in the war of 1812, and indeed I 'have been able to
gather but little information on that subject. There were several
who enlisted and served in that war ; only one (John Woodworth)
to my knowledge survives. He was wounded at Fort Erie, and
now draws a pension of ninety-six dollars a year. He had a
large family, but none are now residing in Middletown, except his
oldest daughter Mary. He has one sou, Andrew J., who now
resides in Philadelphia, and is a man of good business capacity,
and has, as I am informed, accumulated a good deal of wealth.
He gave the town of Middletown, a short time since, the sum of
about one thousand dollars — it being what the town had expended
for the support of an unfortunate insane sister who has been at
Brattleboro for several years,— and also to relieve the town from
her future support, made provision for the same.

This example is worthy of record, not only to preserve a gener-
ous act, but to show what a young man without means may do if
he will. It is hardly twenty years since A. J. Woodworth came
to school to me. He was then poorly clad — a bashful unpretend-

HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN. 129

ing boy— yet he seemed to be resolute and determined in what be
undertook to do, and, withal, was generous and kind hearted.

At the time of the battle of Pittsburgh a company of militia
volunteered from Middletown, but they only got as far as Castleton
when they were informed that the battle was over ; they then
returned. David Thomas is the only survivor of that company
now living in Middle town ; he went as drummer. .

THE ACT OF IXCORPOEATION.

At an adjourned" session of the General Assembly of the State
of Vermont, held at Bennington the third Thursday in February,
1784, on Friday afternoon, February 27th, the following record
is made :

A petition signed by Joseph Spaulding, and fifty others, inhabit-
ants of the northwest corner of Tinmouth, northeast corner of
Wells, southeast corner of Poultney, and southwest corner of Ira,
setting forth that the mountains, &c, around them are so imprac-
ticable to pass that it is with great trouble and difficulty that they
can meet with the towns that they belong to, in town and other
meetings, &c, and praying that they may be incorporated into a
town, with the privileges, &c., was read and referred to a com-
mittee of five, to join a committee from the Council, to take the
same under consideration, state facts and make report. The
members chosen were Mr. Whipple, Mr. Moses Robinson, Mr.
Jewett, Mr. Taylor and Mr. Cogsell.

On Monday, March 1st, 1784, the following record appears on
the journal of the House :

The committe, Mr. Whipple, Mr. M. Robinson, Mr. Jewett, Mr.
Taylor and Mr. Cogsell, with the Committee of the Council,
appointed on the petition of Joseph Spaulding, and fifty-two other
inhabitants of Wells, Tinmouth, &c, brought in the following
report :

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HISTORY OF MIDDLETOWN.

" That it is our opinion that the petition be laid over until the
next session of Assembly ; and that this assembly appoint a dis-
interested Committee, consisting of three persons, at the cost of
the petitioners, to go on the premises, state facts, and make
report to the next session of Assembly."

The aforesaid report was read and accepted: Whereupon,

Hesclved, That a committee of three be appointed to- nominate
three persons for said committee, and make report. The members
chosen were Mr. S. Knight, Mr. Whipple and Mr. Cogsell.

On the opening of the afternoon session of that day the follow-
ing record was made :

Mr. S. Knight, Mr. Whipple and Mr. Cogsell, the Committee
appointed to nominate a disinterested Committee, on the petition
of Joseph Spaulding, of Wells, &c, brought in the following
report, viz :

" That they beg to nominate Mr. Moses Robinson, of Rupert,
Mr. Nathaniel Blanchard, of Rutland, and Brewster Iligley, Esq.,
of Castleton, for said Committee/' Whereupon,

Mewlved, That the aforesaid Moses Robinson, Nathaniel Blan-
chard and Brewster Iligley, be, and they are hereby appointed
a Committee, agreeable to the report of the Committee who took
said petition under consideration, and that they make their report
of the facts and their proceedings at the next session of the
Assembly. And that Mr. Robinson appoint the time and place
for hearing the parties, and notify the other members of the Com-
mittee, and the parties, to attend accordingly.

At the next session of the General Assembly, held in October
at Rutland, the Committee made their report of the facts, accom-
panied with a bill incorporating certain territory of the towns of
Wells, Poultney, Tinmouth and Ira, into a town under the name
of Middletown.

5990H